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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-09-23 Daily Xml
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MURRAY-DARLING BASIN

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (14:59): Will the Premier guarantee that the action he heralded to the media this morning, claiming he would refer South Australia's powers over the River Murray to the commonwealth, be complete, unconditional and absolute? Can he further promise that New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, which collectively control 93 per cent of the River Murray's water, will be providing the same complete, unconditional and absolute referral of their powers over the River Murray?

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD (Chaffey—Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water Security) (15:00): This morning I introduced historic legislation to this place, which will refer powers to the commonwealth to enable the commonwealth to undertake certain activities in relation to the management of the Murray-Darling Basin. That includes the establishment of an independent authority, an independent authority reporting to one minister—one minister, not all of the states—in the development of a plan to establish new caps on the valleys, groundwater and surface water, and that referral of powers is unconditional. It is unconditional in that it is the same referral of powers under the same model used for Corporations Law. It is a text-based referral.

It is a referral that enables the commonwealth to undertake certain activities on behalf of the basin-wide states, and it is a historic agreement to do this. It is incredibly important that this house supports this legislation as quickly as possible so that we can move towards a new governance arrangement for the collective management of the Murray-Darling Basin for the health of the basin. I look forward to the support of the opposition.

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