Andrew Gee (Calare, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support these amendments and I commend the member for Curtin for bringing them forward. They are practical; they are also commonsense amendments. You've got to keep in mind, and it's the reason I'm supporting this bill, that it's a win-win. It's a win for farmers, so it allows the farmers in the central west of New South Wales and, indeed, all around Australia to get an income stream to supplement their farming income, which can be very handy in a dry time. But it's also a win for the environment, and I think these amendments, these commonsense and practical amendments to the objects, enhance the effectiveness of the bill now but also into the future.

I note the member for Curtin has moved the amendment that the bill protects and enhances biodiversity so that's not an optional extra. It's not either/or; it's got to be both. It ensures that the bill specifically helps to achieve Australia's domestic goal of no new extinctions, which I think the community would wholeheartedly support. And it also ensures that the bill refers to achieving Australia's commitments under the convention on biodiversity.

I think the outcome of all of these practical and commonsense amendments is it that you'll get a more effective bill, and you'll get measurable outcomes, which is what the Australian public want to see from a bill like this. They want farmers and other landholders to get the benefits. They want the environment to get the benefits. And they want this bill to be as effective as possible. So, again, I commend the member for Curtin for bringing forward these amendments. I commend these amendments to the government, and I also urge the opposition, who in many ways were the architects of the principle of this bill, to get behind these amendments. They didn't get behind the bill, but they can still get behind these amendments.

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