Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Environment and Water (Senate)) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to put on record that Labor will be supporting the Water Amendment Bill 2018. We understand that this will allow the re-establishment of the Northern Basin Review instrument. When the Labor Party previously supported the disallowance of this instrument, the indication was given by the Hon. Tony Burke that the intention was to enter into good-faith negotiations with the government on a number of issues before revisiting the disallowance. I do note that it was because of our support for the plan that we supported the disallowance motion. In fact, we are the party that delivered the plan. It was Labor that delivered the Murray-Darling plan in government and it is Labor that will fight today to save that plan—the whole plan, the entire plan—for all Australians.

We know that legitimate questions have been posed concerning the content of the Northern Basin Review and, indeed, the SDL adjustment mechanism. We believe that the best way to deal with these concerns is through improved transparency and new auditing and compliance requirements to ensure a healthy working basin. Labor has also been very determined to make sure that decisions about the volumes required to restore the system to health are determined by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and that they do not, instead, become subjected to daily amendment by political processes. This decision from the Labor Party means that the full Murray-Darling Basin Plan will be back on track with new levels of compliance and transparency. In coming to this decision, we have been mindful of ensuring that all elements of the plan would be properly implemented, that the independence of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority would be preserved and that the demands of the Labor Party, which were put forward in February 2018, would be met. So we are confident that the Basin Plan is back on track, and this is because we received assurances from the government in good-faith negotiations.

As many will know, in the northern basin, you've a much flatter system and a system where, when there's heavy rainfall, it flows, and, each time it flows, much of the water will flow in a slightly different fashion to the way it did the previous time. This is something that's been seen in the southern basin when you get an overbank flow, but, largely, in the southern basin, as we've seen, the water is more predictable. This means there is some degree of uncertainty in the northern basin numbers, and this can have a flow-on effect to the plan and its implementation. But we believe, as the years of data build up, those numbers will always be subjected to new information and the water will continue to flow differently in the north, so we believe that there is a clear need for the northern basin plan review as these numbers must be properly assessed. We have also managed to include something that was not included in the original plan when it was made under Labor back in 2012, and I'm proud of this. For the very first time, there will be a fund for First Nations in the northern and southern basins to acquire water entitlements. To be clear, we think more needs to be done with respect to cultural water, but this is a step in the right direction, and we're pleased that the government has been willing to make it.

It's also pleasing to note the government's plans to establish a Northern Basin Commissioner responsible to the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources and in consultation with the Minister for the Environment and Energy to oversee the implementation of the Northern Basin Review. The commissioner will report annually on progress on the rollout of toolkit works and measures and other initiatives arising from the northern basin water recovery task force report and this agreement.

We believe that paramount to this agreement is that the plan exists to restore the Murray-Darling Basin to good health. We on the Labor side wholeheartedly believe that having an independent authority is absolutely essential. We know that without an independent authority we will not meaningfully resolve issues with the basin, because we've seen the kind of conflict that happens with competing interests. Labor's decision to support this legislation today means that we firmly believe that the plan is back on track with new levels of compliance and transparency.