David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Minister for Water Resources, Drought, Rural Finance, Natural Disaster and Emergency Management) Share this | Hansard source

Let me go to the point around the water market. Obviously, as I've gone around and done shed meetings with irrigators up and down the basin, both in the north and in the south, one of the great concerns that I was hearing, particularly exacerbated by the drought, is the cost of water. Ninety-three per cent of trades happened in the southern basin, where a lot of the conjecture is. Fourteen per cent of those that own water licences don't own land.

Now, when state governments separated water from land, I don't know whether their intent was where the market has evolved to now. The government took swift action after listening to the concerns of real people on the ground in farmers' sheds. With the Treasurer, I've now nearly finalised terms of reference so the ACCC can get under the bonnet of the water market to make sure that the original intent of this market, when it was created, is still working and that small farming families are not taken out of it. This is a responsible step in making sure that we understand that the market is as pure as it was intended to be, and we will make sure that the terms of reference are broad enough so that the ACCC can give confidence to everybody.

The transparency that is required within this Basin Plan will be seen through. The states also have a part to play in this.

See this speech in context