Andrew Leigh (Fraser, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

It is my pleasure to rise to speak on this important piece of legislation, which ensures that the ACT has the necessary powers to control the management of the Googong Dam. The Australian Capital Territory Water Management Legislation Amendment Bill 2013 enables the ACT to prepare Murray-Darling-Basin-Plan-compliant water resource plans when current ACT water resource plans expire at the end of 2014.

Canberrans know the importance of the Googong Dam, a resource that ensures that we have water sustainability but also a great recreational resource for Canberrans. It was my pleasure to attend the official opening of the Googong Dam and to have the opportunity with many Canberra families to walk behind the dam wall. It is an impressive piece of construction. I pay tribute to the many construction workers and engineers who were involved in bringing it about. The Googong Dam also has recreational facilities—sailing, boating and mountain biking—and a range of short and long walks, allowing Canberrans to enjoy this beautiful part of our neighbourhood.

I am also pleased to rise to speak on this bill because of its importance in ensuring that the Murray-Darling Basin Plan can be realised. The Murray-Darling Basin Plan is a great tribute to the former Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, the member for Watson, and his hard work with local communities. That hard work saw the Basin Plan passed through this House with just a handful of fringe members opposing it. Among those were some members of the Nationals and the Greens.

The Nationals I can forgive, perhaps. Their view was that the Murray-Darling Basin Plan was fundamentally flawed and that we should not be engaging in such a buyback, restoring water to the Murray-Darling Basin. The Greens, however, I find it harder to forgive. Their view was that somehow, if the plan were voted against, a better plan might magically come along. I think that was wishful thinking indeed. The Murray-Darling Basin Plan restored nearly 3,000 gigalitres of water to the Murray-Darling Basin and was a vital achievement.

This bill will ensure that the abstraction of water on national land is not managed by the Commonwealth government but is managed by the ACT government, and that, I think, is as it should be. The pressures that have been placed on the National Capital Authority at times have been significant. This is an appropriate role for the ACT government. It recognises, as my friend and colleague the member for Canberra has noted, that the ACT Legislative Assembly—an assembly which has taken nation-leading steps on same-sex marriage and whose size should, I believe, be increased—has come of age. I commend the bill to the House.

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