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

I rise this evening to put on record that we do not support this amendment. We are fundamentally concerned with the way that it alters the Basin Plan put in place by the previous Labor government.

The choice that we have here before us in this chamber is: do we have a plan that we've agreed on and that the nation can agree on or not? Do we have an independent authority or not? Labor, very firmly, wants the plan. Indeed, we also want an independent authority. We're sympathetic to many of the issues that are raised in this amendment, but we understand that by supporting them we would be attacking hard-fought agreements that we've worked hard to deliver and where we have to bring everyone to the table. We understand the plan is not perfect, nor is its implementation, but the simple fact is that we have come a very long way. It's a framework for delivering more water for the environment and, indeed, returning the rivers to health.

Let's not forget, in this chamber, that the Greens voted against the plan in the same way that they voted against the CPRS. They cannot accept a way forward where we have to take the whole of the community with us to get the job done. We very much see this as another attempt by the Greens to sabotage the agreement and the plan.

We are very aware that there's been problems with compliance, reporting, data and modelling. We've sought assurances from the government that these problems will be addressed, and we will be vigilant in making sure they stick to their agreements with us to make improvements. These include improvements in transparency, compliance, data and modelling, Indigenous engagement, the 605 gigalitres of supply measures and delivery of the 450 gigalitres of water for the environment. This agreement between Labor and the government simply highlights that the days are over where the likes of Mr Barnaby Joyce can say, 'The 450 gigalitres of water for the environment simply isn't possible.' He said, 'Not a hope in Hades.' We want to see those days behind us.

This isn't about the Greens seeking to politicise this issue for their own political gain. We have to be above that. This is about taking the states with us. It's the only way to get this job done, including, as you highlight, with the more difficult upstream states.

The ministerial council, on June 8, met to progress these issues. They are setting up a new Basin Compliance Compact to deliver a consistent and transparent approach to compliance with all Commonwealth and state laws on water use in the basin. We know they are also starting to address more metering so that we know where the water comes from and where it's going. We know that states have introduced more laws on compliance and established embargoes so environmental water isn't stolen or taken illegally. We've seen a fund, importantly, for cultural water—a measure I would have certainly thought the Greens supported—new measures to improve outcomes for Aboriginal people in the basin and a new Northern Basin Commissioner. These are all worthy things. The Greens playing politics with these issues simply undermines the fact that we have to get this job done as a nation and we have to do it together.

We know that the basin states and the Commonwealth announced 62 gigalitres to contribute to the 450 gigalitres of water for the environment. That means, effectively, that we have less than 390 gigalitres of that 450 gigalitres to recover. We are impatient for water recovery, but that is a start towards that 450 gigalitres. We asked for action, and we are pleased to see that action is being taken. The Commonwealth announced that it will soon run an infrastructure round to recover more water to bridge the gap and keep the 450 gigalitres of recovery water coming in. Members have also agreed to an efficiency measures work plan through to 2024 to deliver a pathway to achieving the remaining water recovery of the 450 gigalitres through efficiency measures.

So let's be clear: Labor very firmly supports this plan. It is a plan that has resolved over 100 years of conflict. We don't want to stand here and take us back to those days of conflict, which is why we are not supporting the Greens' amendment. We want to see results, not just a fight about these issues. What is very clear is that when there is conflict the only thing that suffers is the health of the river, and that is what 100 years of conflict has brought us.