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Abstract
The objectives of government in relation to natural resource management in agriculture have changed
significantly over time. Similarly, the process that government employs to develop natural resource
management policy has also evolved. In the past, policy has been developed centrally, while more
recently there has been greater effort to involve the community in this process.
There are clear linkages between changes in natural resource management objectives and changes in
the policy development process. The implementation of the NSW Government’s Water Reforms is
used as a case study to consider these linkages and to examine the advantages and disadvantages of
moving to a more community based approach to natural resource management. The implications of
this approach for economists, in terms of their ability to contribute to the policy process, are also
explored.