Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Hansard source

The government does not have a policy at this stage of outright purchasing of water licences. That is not current government policy. As has been correctly pointed out, we did announce that we would be running a tender to recover water through the Living Murray initiative, and water obtained through the Water Through Efficiency tender, which opened on 1 November, will be from efficiency gains, allowing agricultural production to be maintained. It is a matter we constantly keep under review. All I can say at this stage is that it is not government policy to directly enter into the direct purchase of water licences.