Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

You should listen; you might learn something. The Barwon-Darling Basin diversion limit is some 198 gigalitres, and the total local water recovery required under the Basin Plan 2012 is six gigalitres. The total Commonwealth and state water recovery in the Barwon-Darling, as at 30 June 2017, is 32.6 gigalitres; the Barwon-Darling current take for consumptive use is 165.4 gigalitres; and the Barwon-Darling unregulated access A-class licences are 10 gigalitres—10 gigalitres out of a total flow of 32,553 gigalitres. So we can say that the allegations raised in Four Corners relate only to the A-class licences in the Barwon-Darling, which account for some 10 gigalitres out of a total of 32,000 gigalitres.

We on this side of the House understand the importance of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan to all the people of the basin states. We understand that water and access to water is the lifeblood of basin communities, both economically and socially and environmentally. We understand that the success of the plan and water holders' rights are dependent on the enforcement of that plan. The investigations already underway are an appropriate response to the allegations that have been aired on Four Corners. I certainly commend the calibre of Mr Matthews and his team in resolving this issue. It's vitally important that any issue of water threat be appropriately investigated. The New South Wales government is acting appropriately, the federal government has acted appropriately, and I certainly believe that it has been a totally appropriate response.

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