Audit criticises Murray-Darling water purchases made without open tender

Auditor general finds no framework to maximise value from buybacks, including from company founded by Angus Taylor

A highly critical audit of $190m spent by the federal government on water entitlements in 2017 without open tender has found that the department of agriculture did not develop a framework designed to maximise value for money.

The acting auditor general, Rona Mellor, found that the department only negotiated on price in one purchase and then made just one counter-offer.