Damian Drum (Nicholls, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This season in the Goulburn Valley and across most of eastern Australia we've had fantastic rainfalls, creating incredible inflows into our storages. But now is not the time to become complacent or to relax when it comes to water policy. We have to continue to look at the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and the plan that was put in place at 2,750—the amount of gigalitres that need to be taken out of agriculture for the environment. A 605 gigalitre adjustment mechanism has been put in place so that the states can find projects that are going to deliver environmental outcomes that can be delivered via engineering and by maintenance works, as opposed to simply being delivered by throwing vast amounts of water down the river. These projects are known as the 605s—the adjustment mechanism projects. We must make sure that the states, who are responsible for getting these projects up and about, get their skates on. There is a time limit on the completion of these projects. We need to make sure that the 605 gigalitres is catered for. There are 14 projects still experiencing delays. This is both in Victoria and in New South Wales. Both of those states have to get their skates on and get these projects finished. (Time expired)