Rex Patrick (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make a brief contribution to the debate on the Water Amendment Bill 2018. I'm pleased to see the Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources is in the chamber to hear my important contribution. This bill reflects a bipartisan agreement which will ultimately facilitate the immediate passage of the Northern Basin Review amendment, which the Senate disallowed on 14 February 2018. Ordinarily, a legislative instrument that has been disallowed must not be introduced within six months after the day of disallowance. This is an important principle. It's reasoned and well considered. It is a principle that Centre Alliance believes should not be circumvented. It is for this reason we will be opposing the bill.

There is no need to expedite this bill. There is no need to usurp section 48 of the Legislation Act 2003. In just under two months the government could reintroduce the Northern Basin Review instrument. This approach would adhere to the well-established principles that we have established in law. While I normally welcome the coalition and Labor sitting down and working out their differences, I'm surprised that Labor's change in position has occurred without any new information being made public. I note that any new amendment under this new bill must be the same in substance as any earlier disallowed amendment and therefore would have already been subject to a consultation process. However, as noted by the committee, the Australia Institute contended that the original Northern Basin Review instrument contained changes that were never subject to public consultation, with the changes included several months after a public consultation process on the instrument had concluded.

When I spoke on the disallowance of the Basin Plan Amendment Instrument, or the Northern Basin Review, I called for the plan to be paused so that the issues raised in the various reviews, including the Matthews review and, of course, the MDBA's own water compliance review, could be addressed and relevant recommendations implemented. No-one, including Labor, can put their hand on their heart and say that all of this has been fixed. While this view, to pause the plan, is not shared by the government and, now, not by Labor, I believe it is the most appropriate course of action in order to reinstate public confidence in the plan. We should not forget we are dealing with a substantial amount of taxpayers' money—more than $10 billion. This is why I have been advocating for a more transparent Basin Plan.

In closing, Centre Alliance will be reviewing the Northern Basin Review instrument when it is re-tabled and will consider any new information that is made public at that time, but, unlike Labor, we won't be making a different decision based on information and circumstances that have not changed.