Water Amendment (Long-term Average Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment) Bill 2012

The majority voted in favour of a motion to read the bill a third time. The motion was introduced by Labor Senator Stephen Conroy.

This means that the bill is passed in the Senate and, as it has already passed in the House of Representatives, it will now be sent to the Governor-General for royal assent so it can become law.

Background to the bill

The purpose of the bill is to allow the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to make adjustments to the long-term average sustainable diversion limit set by the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.(See the bills digest (809KB) for more information on the bill and its purpose.) Sustainable diversion limits are the average water quantities that can be taken from the Murray-Darling basin sustainably and their aim is to return water to the environment.

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