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

I, at least, understand where the minister is coming from. Hopefully, the Hansard record will provide some comfort to those concerned about the scope of this amendment. To my thinking, a dam for the storage of water extracted as part of a coal seam gas development is part of that coal seam gas development. But, if the government is saying that—for the sake of its certainty—it needs to have wording of this nature, such that those dams would be captured, that is obviously the advice the government is operating on. I struggle to see a situation where a dam, which you pump water extracted from a coal seam gas mine into, is not part of your development. Logically—in any way, shape or form—it is. I would still have some concerns that there is a potential for some unintended consequences here. But I note the assurances the minister has given and I hope those assurances prove to be accurate.