Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Hansard source

As everybody knows, Labor has made a commitment to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full. We have listened, and we will deliver scientifically proven water outcomes. I'm pleased to be able to speak on the Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Bill 2023 today, which will amend the Water Act and the Basin Plan. The changes will see 450 gigalitres of water returned to the environment and reinstate transparency, integrity and confidence in water markets. There is absolutely no time to lose in this. After a decade of delay and dysfunction, we have had to act firmly and decisively, delivering more in our first nine months than those opposite did in nine years. Collaboration has been the key—collaboration with the states and territories, with farmers, with irrigators, with scientists and with First Nations groups. We've listened, and now we are acting and getting on with the job. The outcome has seen common sense restored, with implementation mechanisms that will allow basin governments more time to deliver remaining water based on expert advice. The outcome will allow more options to deliver the remaining water, including water infrastructure projects and voluntary water buybacks. It'll deliver more funding for the remaining water and to support communities where those voluntary water buybacks have flow-on effects, and it will deliver more accountability from Murray-Darling Basin governments to deliver the remaining water on time. At the end of the day, a healthy basin will ensure a sustainable future not only for the river system but for our regional communities that rely on its health.

Australia is headed towards a drought. Some parts of my electorate are already technically in drought. If we don't act swiftly to preserve the river's health, we will not be prepared. The communities, the native species, the river ecosystems and the agriculture industries who rely on the river's health will all be at risk. It's why this plan was developed in the first place—to help us through the dry years and ensure that there is enough water flowing even at the lowest points. The original deadline for the plan was set for June of next year, but, thanks to the outright sabotage from some others over the past decade, this was just not going to happen. They blocked water recovery programs. They ignored scientific advice and tied up projects in impossible rules so that they couldn't deliver any water savings. The changes we are making are necessary. They are necessary to preserve the largest and most complex river system in the country. Up to 2.3 million Australians call the basin home, and more than three million people drink its water each and every day. I am proud to be part of an Albanese Labor government helping to secure Australia's water future through the next dry stretch and beyond, and I thank the minister for delivering this Basin Plan for communities right across the country.

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