Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

I was referring to a response that you gave Senator Duniam about the forestry industry. You spoke about removing the water rule under the EPBC Act regarding farmland under plantation. My question is: has there been any research? You made a statement here that you're going to do that and this is a fund that's going to be investing in forestry processing, I'm assuming. I want to understand the impact of the removal of the water rule on the Murray-Darling Basin. Over two million people live in the basin, and they are very, very concerned about the Labor Party's water policy thus far. I think it is beholden on the minister to tell the chamber what research has been done about the impact of this decision.