Liberal party’s bomb thrower blows apart the Murray-Darling water myth

The Liberals and Nationals are busy tussling over water but they're not the only ones. Irrigators, environmentalists and communities all want their share. And as Bill Heffernan points out, you can't possibly please everyone

Sometimes, just occasionally, a politician deviates from their speaking notes or the carefully-calibrated party line and calls bullshit on something important.

This week that's what Liberal senator Bill Heffernan did on water policy. Heffernan is often described as "colourful" or "maverick" or other euphemisms for a bloke who made a point about federal parliament's security by brandishing a fake pipe bomb in a committee hearing and about New South Wales state parliament security by walking in (undetected) with a knife with which he had personally castrated several hundred calves.