Barnaby Joyce’s dam water set to cost 100 times more than market rates

Project backed by the National party is expected to top $162,000 per megalitre if cost recovery is pursued

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The new $1.27bn Dungowan Dam, championed by Barnaby Joyce in his New South Wales electorate of New England, is expected to cost the equivalent of $162,000 per megalitre, compared to a current market rate of $1,500/ML, if cost recovery is pursued, a water expert has estimated.

Drew Collins, a former associate commissioner of the 2020 Productivity Commission National Water inquiry, has described the Tamworth-based project as a hell of a lot of money to not fix the problem" of the Peel Valley's existing water supply.

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