Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

that Sunday, 28 June 2009, is the 7th anniversary of the corporatisation of Snowy Hydro Limited, of which the Commonwealth, New South Wales and Victorian governments are shareholders, and

(ii)

the recent report of the Snowy Scientific Committee which warned that critical deep pools in the upper reaches of the Snowy River are ‘under threat of permanent or near permanent change’;

(b)

expresses concern:

(i)

at the failure of the three governments to meet legislated targets for returning environmental flows to the Snowy River, which should have seen the return of 15 per cent annual natural flow to the river by 2009, rather than the 46.7GL or just over 4 per cent planned to be delivered in 2009-10, and

(ii)

at the recommissioning of the Mowamba Aqueduct, diverting the waters of the Mowamba River to Lake Jindabyne, and calls for the suspension of repayment of the Mowamba Borrowings Account from the Snowy River environmental allocation and the permanent decommissioning of the aqueduct; and

(c)

calls on:

(i)

the New South Wales Government to release the long overdue draft report of the first five-year review on the Snowy Water Licence, which was due in 2007, and

(ii)

the Commonwealth to commit additional resources for the immediate purchase of high security water entitlements to meet the commitment to return 21 per cent of annual natural flows to the Snowy River by 2012 and 28 per cent of natural flows beyond 2012.

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—The Rudd government does not support this motion. The government is committed to improving the health of the Snowy River and supports the target levels of improved flows contained within the Snowy Waters Inquiry Outcomes Implementation Deed. That is why the government has committed an additional $50 million to the Water for Rivers initiative to purchase water and to invest in water efficiency savings in order to further boost environmental flows in the Snowy River.

I am advised that the process of acquiring water entitlements for the Snowy River under the Water for Rivers joint venture has been progressing well. However, in acquiring water entitlements for the Snowy River, senators should be aware that allocations under these entitlements are dependent on rainfall and inflows to rivers and water storages. At this point in time inflows and water storage levels are at exceptionally low levels right across south-eastern Australia. The government is aware of community concerns about the recommissioning of the Mowamba aqueduct. Earlier this year the relevant minister wrote to the New South Wales government Minister for Water requesting that the draft outcomes of its review of the Snowy water licence be released as soon as possible. As such the minister is expecting that the New South Wales government will release the draft review report shortly.

Question put:

That the motion (Senator Siewert’s) be agreed to.