A spokeswoman for NSW Minster for Climate Change and the Environment, Verity Firth, confirmed the department, with financial backing from the Federal Government, was in discussions with the selling agents of Toorale Station.

The 91,383-hectare grazing and irrigation property, at the junction of the Warrego and Darling rivers, has about 10,000 megalitres of a total 14,000Ml capacity stored.

Clyde managing director, John McKillop, said there had been no inspection or request for a contract from government representatives, but comments by Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, on the need to “accelerate” water buy-back had sent the rumour mill into overdrive.

He said Toorale Station would go to the highest bidder, which could as easily be from among the overseas interests new to Australian agriculture.

Since the news broke that the Federal Government might consider buying the property to secure water, Queensland Nationals Senator, Barnaby Joyce, has been protesting into every microphone presented to him.

“The Government has to acknowledge it is about to change the socio-economic conditions of not the people who own the water licences, but all those who live in the district,” Senator Joyce said.

“If the Government is giving nothing back to the district, they are doing something quite wrong.”

Senator Joyce questioned the effectiveness of purchasing water at the basin’s upper end to correct a problem at the lower end.

“The basin is like a big old dry carpet, rather than interconnected garden hoses. At one end of the carpet stands Adelaide, and at the other end stands Queensland. If Queensland drops a bucket of water on the carpet, Adelaide doesn’t get her feet wet.”