Page 5123 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 27 October 2010
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Motion, as amended, agreed to.
Water—Murray-Darling Basin Authority
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (11.30): I move:
That this Assembly:
(1) notes:
(a) the Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s Guide to the proposed Basin Plan, released on 8 October 2010 and the Technical Background paper, released on 21 October 2010;
(b) that the plan proposes a reduction of between 26 per cent and 34 per cent in the ACT’s current diversion limit, or 34 per cent to 45 per cent if the diversion is taken only from watercourse diversions;
(c) that the ACT’s current diversion limit is 40GL per year, negotiated in 2008, which is less than 0.5 per cent of total surface water diversions for the Basin;
(d) that the ACT is the largest urban centre in the Basin, with a population representing some 17.5 per cent of the total population in the Basin;
(e) that the ACT is a full voting member of the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council;
(f) that both the Commonwealth government and the Authority have admitted that the proposed plan is deficient in its analysis of the social and economic impact of the plan on regional communities, including the ACT;
(g) that the Commonwealth has begun a parliamentary committee inquiry into the impact of the plan;
(h) that the Authority has commissioned additional research into the local community effects of the proposed Basin plan;
(i) that the ACT government, through the Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Water, and the ACT Greens have made public statements broadly in support of the proposed plan; and
(j) that the Canberra Liberals have drawn public attention to the potential impact of the proposed plan on the ACT’s future growth and economic prosperity;
(2) calls on the ACT government, within the timeframes set by the Authority in its public consultation process in relation to the proposed Basin plan, to:
(a) make a submission to the Authority on behalf of the ACT, vigorously defending preservation of the ACT’s current diversion limit;
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