Water Amendment (Water for the Environment Special Account) Bill 2012

The majority voted against a Nationals amendment introduced by Senator Barnaby Joyce, the Leader of the Nationals in the Senate.

This amendment replaces the wording of paragraph 86AA(3)(b) of the bill from "increasing the volume of the Basin water resources that is available for environmental use by 450 gigalitres" to "increasing the volume of the Basin water resources that is available for environmental use by up to 450 gigalitres". This amendment would reverse the effects of a previous amendment in the House of Representatives.(This amendment is available here. )

Senator Joyce argued that re-adding in the words "up to" would ensure that "we are not going to be tying people into an outcome which the reality is we do not have the money for".(Read the whole of Senator Joyce's contribution here and the associated debate here. The amendment is referred to as Nationals amendment number (1) on sheet 7337 and was discussed from 11:39 am. )

Background to the bill

The bill(A copy of the bill, its explanatory memoranda and amendments are available here. ) was introduced to establish an Environment Special Account to fund projects that protect and restore environmental assets of the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) and protect water dependent biodiversity of the MDB.(Read more about the bill in this bills digest (696 KB).) The projects will include those that increase the available environmental water in the MDB by 450 Gigalitres.

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