Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

As I was saying, we will be implementing the Basin Plan, and we will be implementing it in the fashion that was agreed to between states and territories and the former government. In that agreement it is very relevant to note that, on the issue of whether additional water will be delivered under that agreement, under clause 717 it says that the efficiency contributions to the proposed adjustments must achieve neutral or improved socioeconomic outcomes compared with the outcomes under benchmark conditions, and that is what we will be implementing.

There is obviously an issue at the moment. There was an issue under discussion about whether that additional water can be delivered consistent with this condition that was agreed to by the former government. There are different views at the moment, as I understand it, between states and territories on this issue. There are different views between governments of states and territories of different political parties on this issue, but we are committed as a government to ensure that we deliver a balanced Murray-Darling Basin Plan and that we deliver a Basin Plan that delivers environmental outcomes, that delivers on economic and social outcomes and that delivers a triple bottom line, because we all want to achieve things for the environment, but we must do so in a way which does not pull the economic rug out of communities that produce our food, that put our protein on our tables and that produce jobs in regional areas. All of these things must be balanced, and we are committed to doing that while we implement the Basin Plan.