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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 10 Hansard (26 November) . . Page.. 3118 ..

Clause 29

MR SMYTH (Minister for Urban Services) (5.32): I move amendment No. 11 circulated in my name:

Page 16, line 11, paragraph (9)(a), after "record", insert "both in the Territory and elsewhere".

Mr Deputy Speaker, clause 29 is being changed by this amendment so that it uses a more complete description of environmental record, both in the Territory and elsewhere, as already used in other clauses of the Bill.

Amendment agreed to.

MS TUCKER (5.32): I move amendment No. 8 circulated in my name:

Page 16, line 26, paragraph 10(a), omit the paragraph, substitute the following paragraph:

"(a) if, in the opinion of the Minister -

(i) the amount of water that, in the aggregate, could be taken under licences to take water in force under this Act would exceed the total amount of water determined in respect of a period (if any) specified under a management plan if, in that period, all licensees were to take the total volume of water permitted to be taken under their respective licences; or

(ii) to do so would otherwise be inconsistent with a management plan;".

This amendment does remove some words regarding water allocations, but it also introduces a limitation on the total amount of water that can be taken under licence, which is a major omission from the Bill. I think that this amendment can stand on its own, regardless of the fate of my other amendments, so I do still want it debated. The amendment says that the Government cannot grant a licence to take water that would mean that the total amount of water being taken would exceed the total amount of water available under the water resources management plan or would otherwise be inconsistent with the plan. It concerns me that there does not appear to be a formal link in the Act between the water resources management plan and the granting of water allocations. While the water resources management plan is supposed to include proposed water allocations under section 13 of the Act, there is no formal requirement for the Minister to take this into account in allocating water under section 23. My amendment corrects this anomaly.

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