Sophie Mirabella (Indi, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Would the minister advise the House of what steps the government is taking to protect irrigators who rely on water from the Snowy Hydro Scheme?

Peter McGauran (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for her question. The first thing that needs to be said to those who are understandably concerned about the privatisation of the Snowy is that it was inevitable from the moment New South Wales put its 58 per cent share up for sale. However, the Australian government is confident that the change in ownership of Snowy Hydro Ltd will not impact on the security of entitlements for irrigators. The Snowy water licence, issued by New South Wales but negotiated by three governments, has guarantees of continuing releases at current levels for irrigators. That responsibility is not altered in any way through a change of ownership.

Some irrigators have expressed concern that New South Wales might seek—understandably, given its track record—some changes to the terms of the licence at some point in the future. The Commonwealth took that on board. We considered it and, as a result, the governments have built in a massive disincentive for that to happen. The Murray-Darling Basin Agreement has been amended so that, if New South Wales were to seek to reduce allocations to irrigators, the cut would come out of its own allocation of water from the scheme in the future. No government, now or in the future, could afford to do that economically, let alone politically.

Another step the Commonwealth has taken to protect entitlements is to limit any individual shareholding to 10 per cent. In addition, two-thirds of Snowy Hydro directors must be Australian citizens and any proposals for foreign investment will be subject to foreign investment guidelines. Whatever the ownership, with the 10 per cent limit the terms of the Snowy water licence and the Murray-Darling Basin Agreement provide a bedrock of security. The government believes the process of approving the sale undertaken by the parliament through a motion of both chambers is the right one.

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.