Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present a supplementary explanatory memorandum to the bill. I ask leave of the House to move government amendments (1) and (2), as circulated, together.

Leave granted.

I move government amendments (1) and (2), as circulated, together:

(1) Schedule 1, item 1, page 3 (line 9), omit "or waters", substitute ", or waters,".

(2) Schedule 1, item 26, page 6 (after line 22), after paragraph 191E(1)(ca), insert:

(cb) to carry on, or arrange for the carrying on of, management activities in relation to water, or waters, in relation to which the Indigenous Land Corporation holds water-related rights;

The government moves two amendments to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Amendment (Indigenous Land Corporation) Bill 2018. This bill amends the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2005 to extend the functions of the Indigenous Land Corporation to rights in relation to water and for related purposes.

As introduced, the bill does not enable the Indigenous Land Corporation to perform management functions in relation to water, or waters, in which the Indigenous Land Corporation has water related rights. This is a gap in the bill which means the Indigenous Land Corporation's water management functions would not correspond to its land management functions. The Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee's report of its inquiry into the bill recommended it be amended to address this gap.

The main amendment to the bill addresses this gap and gives the Indigenous Land Corporation management functions in relation to water, or waters, in which the Indigenous Land Corporation has water related rights. The Indigenous Land Corporation's new functions provided for in the bill include management activities in relation to Indigenous waters. As defined in the bill, 'Indigenous waters' includes waters in relation to which certain entities or persons have water related rights.

The second amendment is a technical amendment that updates the drafting of the definition of Indigenous waters in item 1 of schedule 1 to the bill. This amendment is done for consistency with the main amendment that I've just outlined. I commend the amendments to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill, as amended, agreed to.