Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I inform the chamber that Senator O'Neill will also sponsor the motion. At the request of Senators Farrell, Wong, McAllister, Gallacher, Marielle Smith and O'Neill, I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the Sefton report on the independent assessment of social and economic conditions in the [Murray-Darling] Basin concluded that 'the overall target for water recovery…cannot be achieved by 2024, and also cannot be achieved within the funds available',

(ii) the review of the Water for the Environmental Special Account concluded that less than 1% of the 450 gigalitres of additional environmental water required under the plan had been recovered, and

(iii) during the October 2020 estimates session on cross portfolio Murray-Darling Basin Plan matters, Senator Birmingham was unable to identify the projects that would be relied on to recover the water required under the plan;

(b) further notes that failing to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan would threaten:

(i) the productivity and resilience of industries, particularly for food and fibre production, and

(ii) natural features that Australians love and enjoy such as the Alexandrina, Coorong and the Lower Lakes; and

(c) calls on the Government to guarantee that it will deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full.