Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray Darling Basin) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate the minister's explanation and response to those two questions. I have one just one subse­quent question that flows from the minister outlining the establishment of the interim DOIC and the manner in which the interim DOIC will work. When this legisla­tion is enacted and the permanent DOIC is established, as against the interim DOIC, will that permanent body equally have to review all of the determinations of metho­dologies that the interim body has ticked off? If so, what guarantees are there for industries which think they have certainty once it has been ticked off by an interim body that the permanent body may not undo that? Is it expected that the memberships of the two will be consistent, or what guarantees are there? Obviously the minister is turning to a page of the bill which may well address that very question. Could the minister make sure for the benefit of completeness on the record and certainty for this industry sector, given the government's commitments, that this is dealt with as quickly as possibly—certainly in less than a month, which is important to the industry—so that the industry does not see serious negative financial consequences? What certainty or guarantee is there for them as this issue progresses beyond the interim stage and into the permanent stage?