Additional comments - Senator Andrew Bartlett Queensland Democrat

Effective legislation to ensure the restoration and protection of the Murray Darling Basin is crucial and long overdue. Unfortunately, the Senate is faced with a choice. Should it proceed with second-best legislation in the hope that it will provide the pathway to best practice in the near future, or defer passage of the legislation until a best practice model can be agreed on? This would delay reform, but could avoid the risk of locking in an inferior model that is less likely to produce the effective water management that is required.

On balance, it is probably best to proceed with the current legislation, despite the haphazard arrangements that will then apply, and maintain the public and political pressure to continue to improve and strengthen it into the future.

However, whilst these institutional arrangements can probably not be avoided in the short-term, the legislation could still be significantly strengthened from its current form.

It is unfortunate that the Senate Committee was only effectively given one day to examine the legislation. There is no good reason why the Committee could not have had a month to examine the legislation and consult more fully with affected stakeholders and experts, and reported back to the Senate in time to pass it in the first sitting week in September. The inadequate time frame has reduced the opportunity to strengthen the effectiveness of the current legislation.

Whilst maintaining the economic and social viability of communities and enterprises that depend on the water in the Murray Darling Basin is important, in the long-term this will not be able to be achieved unless the environmental health of the Basin is also maintained. Many of the recommendations put forward in evidence and submissions by the environment organisations and the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists are worthy of further consideration.

In particular, I support the recommendation from the Environmental Defender's Offices (EDO) that the legislation be amended to "contain public standing provisions equivalent to those in the Environment Protection & Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) so that the Authority and the Minister can be held accountable in exercising their public interest functions under the legislation."[1]

The EPBC Act provides a strong framework for enforcement of environmental values, which would accord with the international environmental conventions which this legislation draws upon, in part, for its constitutional authority. Consideration should also be given to the other suggestions by the EDOs to improve the integration of this legislation with the strong powers under the EPBC Act.

 

Senator Andrew Bartlett
Deputy Chair

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