Dredging up the big unknowns

Conspiracy or incompetence? That is one debate to be had following an independent panel’s damning criticism of the environmental assessment of the Port Phillip Bay dredging project. The Bracks Government has ordered more studies, which, as the Opposition points out, could defer a decision beyond next year’s election. Someone should answer for the mistakes and delay, but Victorians should not lose sight of the central debate, one that matters for years to come, on the project’s net costs (largely environmental) and benefits (largely economic).