John Cobb (Calare, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts. Minister, I refer to the Victorian government’s proposal to pipe up to 110 billion litres of water annually from the Goulburn River in the Murray-Darling Basin to Melbourne. Will the minister use his powers to reject this proposal, which will have disastrous impacts on the environment and on agriculture?

Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. The powers that the Commonwealth has in relation to this matter are confined to matters of national environment significance under the relevant EPBC Act, and I will make a determination on whether there are any impacts on matters of national environment significance in assessment of that particular proposal.