Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Water Resources and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

I move opposition amendment (6) on sheet 5640:

(6)    Schedule 2, page 318 (after line 32), after item 162, insert:

162F  At the end of Part 12

Add:

262  Inquiry into bulk water arrangements

        (1)    The Minister must cause an inquiry to be held into the effects of Commonwealth water purchases from bulk water arrangements.

        (2)    The inquiry must consider what steps the Minister should take to prevent third party effects within bulk water arrangements on remaining parties. 

        (3)    The inquiry must report by 1 July 2009 and the Minister must cause a copy of the report to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 5 sitting days of receiving the report.

        (4)    The Minister must have regard to the recommendations of the report of the inquiry in proceeding with subsequent purchases of water from bulk water arrangements.

This amendment relates to bulk water arrangements. Briefly, the concern that has been raised with us is that if the environment becomes a user of water similar to irrigators it should be paying the same fixed and variable costs that irrigators currently pay. There is a very clear message coming through: if, for the purposes of public good or for environmental good, that water were to come out of an irrigation district, the fixed costs and charges that would remain would be dispersed through a smaller number of people. That is a real concern as to what we all agree will be a public good. It is about the negative effect that would then remain within that irrigation district. So there needs to be, in terms of a way to describe it, a community service obligation, if you like, to cover the costs so as to avoid forgone revenue for those bulk water providers in those areas. It is a sensible amendment. The amendment itself is probably a little bit wordy, but it is a very sensible amendment to make sure that there is a provision in place. We are talking about an inquiry into this to determine if it is indeed the case that these problems arise, to deal with the situation, to report and to then put forward an appropriate process to deal with the arrangements.