Hmm ... Eastern Australian Agriculture Pty Ltd

http://www.tai.org.au/sites/defualt/files/P502%20That's%20not%20how%20you%20haggle.pdf

These properties. https://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/story/3376640/150000-bale-cotton-business-for-sale/

'Kia Ora' is here, right in St George. It appears to do about a quarter of the St George irrigated cotton crop in a decent year. Note its ox-bow lake and water 'harvesting' levees on the Balonne River floodplain, about 10 km south of town.

Via: https://qldglobe.information.qld.gov.au 

That's ~the same river that Cubbie Station 'harvests' water from 80 km downstream, except that there it's called the Culgoa. It flows into the Darling River just above Bourke, across the border in NSW. Or used to.

It's odd that those 'Kia Ora' levees seem to be intact, despite that we paid ~$80M to buy-back the property's 'harvested water' entitlement in 2017 (together with that from another property south of Dirranbandi). Here's how the levees looked on Monday:

But it's all kosher I'm sure, because (then) Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources the Honourable Barnaby Joyce MP was in charge.

Now who owns this Eastern Australian Agriculture Pty Ltd, again?

Here's Kia Ora's cotton crop in 2015-16 (left) and 2017-18 (right). The property has other water rights; it does not (did not*) rely entirely on 'flood plain harvested' water.

(* You'd hope the past tense applies.)
(Via: https://s2maps.eu/ )

Australian company searches are among the most expensive anywhere, per reports.

https://connectonline.asic.gov.au/RegistrySearch/faces/landing/SearchRegisters.jspx?_adf.ctrl-state=16chtdyjkm_4

Was a change of ownership and directors in January this year ... I wonder what.

The limited liability company is a massive privileged furnished by the state -- originally to protect owners from wind-up debts, but these days seemingly for secrecy and to minimise or avoid tax.

(That's a general comment -- to be clear, not saying *any* of that applies here.)

With privilege comes responsibility. Company records are public documents. They should be publicly available, substantially at the *company's cost*.

Thanks. Yes, it's obvious they control that land, because ... see next tweet.

(Map is just of the QG property names database; it's not necessarily current.) https://twitter.com/qwadja/status/1116471156481990657

I design dams, levees and channels for a living -- or did, until recently -- including for agriculture*. Here's the Kia Ora setup (image date ~July 2018):

(*Designed the biggest farm dam in Australia. Good luck guessing where.)

1. There's an 'intake' on the riverbank about 6 km south-east of St George, but it's not like Cubbie's -- there is no in-stream structure, just a channel and a levee strategically located where the river shallows at the end of a long reach. Again, image date ~July 2018:

2. There is a long channel across the floodplain backed by a downstream levee, to divert 'overland flow' to a natural ox-bow lake ('billabong') that has been converted to form a large water storage. Note the river overflow paths across the floodplain.

3. The levee continues for nearly 10 km along the riverbank downstream, to the old outflow path from the ox-bow, which is blocked by a sizeable dam (the main water retaining structure).

Again, image date July 2018:

There is a breach in the levee 500m east of the dam, perhaps intended to provide a spillway (there is no other). It was made between 2005 and 2011. Apart from that, all of the flood harvesting infrastructure appears to be intact.

Spillway retrofit (?) -- 2005 left, 2011 right:

Why shouldn't we look? This is public money being spent, for supposed public benefit ... lots of it. (Money that is; benefit, dunno.)

Seems this was when the levee breached -- March 2010. (One wonders what they were thinking building all that with no proper spillway.)

Worth noting that there is a second levee upstream of the riverbank one, dividing the storage approximately in half. https://twitter.com/qwadja/status/1116528573941043202

For info -- that ASIC 484 declaration from January. https://twitter.com/jommy_tee/status/1116548088351453185?s=19

Seems Taylor was a director and spokesman for EAA in 2008. When did he cease to be a director? Was he a beneficial owner, and if so, when did he cease to be?

(This is a private, unlisted company. It's rare for directors not to be owners …except token accountants.)

So we have, working backwards, at 7 September 2013:

Not a director of the Kia Ora holding company, but we do declare a family trust, which of course owns the company that we *are* a director of.

https://www.aph.gov.au/~/media/03%20Senators%20and%20Members/32%20Members/Register/44p/TZ/TaylorA_44P.pdf

So, for clarity, it appears that Taylor was neither a director nor a beneficial owner of Eastern Australian Agriculture Pty Ltd on and after 7 September 2013, from his declaration to the Register of Members' Interests – 45th Parliament.

The water rights purchase was in May 2017.

It would useful in the circumstances if Mr Taylor, a minister of the crown in our employ, were to tell us what interest he once held in Eastern Australian Agriculture Pty Ltd (if any), and when and how he disposed of that. If politicians want trust, these are the basics.

Here you go ... from an actual expert.

https://twitter.com/alexbhturnbull/status/1117762229506412545?s=19