Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) the New South Wales (NSW) Government is proposing to raise the Warragamba Dam wall by fourteen metres, which could inundate up to 4 700 hectares of national parks and 65 kilometres of wilderness streams and rivers, irreversibly damaging the integrity of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (GBMWHA),

  (ii) there are 25 threatened plant and animal species which inhabit the proposed inundation area, including the Camden White Gum, Kowmung Hakea and near-extinct honeyeaters, and

  (iii) there are alternatives for protecting the region from flooding, and the community is sceptical that raising the dam wall is just a plan to allow a huge increase in inappropriate property developments on the floodplains of the Hawkesbury and Nepean Rivers;

(b) opposes the NSW Government's plans to raise the Warragamba Dam wall; and

(c) calls on the Minister for the Environment to block federal approvals required to raise the Warragamba Dam wall.

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The proposal to raise the height of the Warragamba Dam wall for flood mitigation has been referred under the EPBC Act. It will undergo a rigorous assessment in accordance with the requirements of the act.

Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor does not support this motion. Labor never supports a motion that calls on federal approvals under the EPBC Act to be blocked or prejudges a decision on an EPBC Act decision, because it is unlawful to do so.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that matter No. 1137 be agreed to.