Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Rhiannon and senators, of course, this debate has recommenced from earlier sessions, and these amendments were circulated in earlier sessions. So I appreciate they may not be the top of the pile of papers on your desks. But they certainly are available to all senators and have been circulated previously.

These amendments are a result of some constructive discussions with various crossbenchers, and I thank the various crossbenchers for their assistance and cooperation in the discussion on this legislation. It is important, given that a summing-up speech was not given by the government in relation to this legislation, to emphasise once again that the abolition of the National Water Commission is in no way changing or varying the government's commitment to water reform in Australia or the government's commitment to seeing the delivery of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full and on time. It is simply about ensuring the delivery of that plan and about ensuring that the application of water reform in Australia occurs in the most efficient way possible. It is the government's view that the expense and cost of having an additional, stand-alone statutory authority is unnecessary, that its key functions in terms of undertaking the assessments on the implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and the assessment on the implementation of the National Water Initiative can be done in alternative ways without having that stand-alone entity.

These amendments that are before the chamber strengthen some of the consultation provisions and some of the arrangements for the conduct of those inquiries. To take the Senate through them, as Senator Rhiannon has requested, we have some additional requirements to the legislation that require the appointment of an Associate Commissioner for the purposes particularly of the Water Act and that that commissioner must have extensive skills and experience in water resource management. That is ensuring that when the triennial assessment against the National Water Initiative is undertaken we actually have in place appropriate arrangements whereby there is an expert as part of that assessment process in the Productivity Commission. There are some further changes that ensure that a stakeholder reference group is established within the Productivity Commission to, again, add expertise and make sure that the Productivity Commission is well placed to undertake a full, thorough and proper assessment of the application of the National Water Initiative.

There are some further and similar amendments, most of which are more procedural in their matters, about the establishment of the state border reference group and what its composition will be, ensuring of course that people from agriculture, industry, the environment, Indigenous communities, urban water and other interested parties will form part of that stakeholder reference group. So, really, these amendments are simply strengthening the provisions in the bill to ensure that we have proper ongoing consideration of assessments around the National Water Initiatives and make sure that the Productivity Commission is well placed to do so. I am sure and I hope and trust that all senators, regardless of their views in relation to the overall legislation, would see these as being sensible amendments that strengthen the provisions in the bill.