Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

This follows on from the line of questioning of Senators Milne, Nash and Boswell about the whole issue of water and the credit for forests. I note that the Minister for Climate Change and Water has made it clear that she is not forcing landholders to grow forests. She has made it clear that the conditions are that the forests are to have adequate water entitlements and planning approvals. My question is: given the concern from the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists—Professor Mike Young and others have expressed concern about the whole issue of interception referred to, I think, by Senator Nash and alluded to by Senator Milne—how will this work in the scheme of things and how will it impact on the water market? We know that managed investment schemes—not something that Senator Wong and her government were responsible for—got out of control. They have impacted on the water market. We now have the issue of the potential impacts of this on the water market and also the whole issue of interception. How will any assessment look holistically at the whole Murray-Darling Basin, for instance, and the water market and its impact on the pricing of water?