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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-02-21 Daily Xml
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Bills

Members of Parliament (Register of Interests) (Water Entitlements) Amendment Bill

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. S.L. GAME (17:42): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Members of Parliament (Register of Interests) Act 1983. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. S.L. GAME (17:43): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

There being a disturbance in the gallery:

The PRESIDENT: Out you go! I will send the Black Rod up.

The Hon. S.L. GAME: The Members of Parliament (Register of Interests) (Water Entitlements) Amendment Bill 2024 amends the Members of Parliament (Register of Interests) Act 1983. Members of parliament currently do not need to disclose the ownership of water listed on the water register under schedule 4 of the Landscape South Australia Act 2019 on the parliamentary register of interests.

The minister must keep a register of water management authorisations granted or issued under the act. The water management authorisation applies to a water licence or a water allocation, amongst other things. Members, and people related to members, would be required to disclose any holding of schedule 4 entitlements in their register of interests. This disclosure would include the nature of the holding and a unique identifier for the entitlement. Water resources such as a watercourse or lake, surface water, underground water and stormwater are valuable assets, and it is only reasonable that such assets should be declared on the parliamentary register of interests.

It is in the interests of transparency, and therefore in the interests of the South Australian public. A water licence granted by the minister is a valuable commodity, and if a member of parliament can profit from such a resource the public has the right to know. Including such information on the register of interests makes this information more accessible. With perceptions of conflicts of interest plaguing some of our politicians, the more disclosure of such assets and interests the better.

Further to this bill, I will look to introduce a broader bill, the Statutes Amendment (Water Rights Transparency) Bill 2024, aiming to increase transparency around water rights in South Australia. The bill proposes the creation of a water rights transparency register. This register would be maintained by the minister and publicly accessible online. It would contain detailed information about all schedule 4 entitlements granted under the Landscape South Australia Act 2019, including holder name, water resource details, date of issuance/expiry, specific information depending on the type of entitlement (water licence, water access entitlement, water allocation, forest water licence) and transfer details including reason, date and price.

The minister would have the power to collect information from individuals and penalise noncompliance or false statements. Overall, the broader bill aims to increase public transparency and accountability regarding water rights in South Australia. Land and water should never have been separated, and One Nation does not agree that farmers should be trading water with wealthy interstate or foreign investors. Our water should be used to grow our food bowl; it should not be used to line the pockets of New York bankers.

Following the government's support for my Public Sector (Ministerial Travel Reports) Amendment Bill 2023, where all ministers conducting travel on the public purse outside of South Australia—including interstate and overseas—must be accountable and show transparency, this bill seeks to ensure the same level of accountability.

The rules for the register of interests in the Members' Handbook make no specific reference to water. I have looked at the Members of Parliament (Register of Interests) Act—and again, no reference to water. This bill tightens the rules around disclosure by making specific reference to water, which makes the register more transparent. I want to see more accountability from our parliamentarians, and this amendment achieves just that.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.

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