Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Bill 2023

The majority voted in favour of government amendments introduced by Sydney MP Tanya Plibersek (Labor), which means they will now be included in the bill.

What do these amendments do?

Ms Plibersek explained that:

The government is introducing amendments to the bill to: firstly, strengthen transparency and accountability in the Basin Plan, including for the role of the Inspector-General of Water Compliance; secondly, ensure the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission can enforce its new information-gathering powers by making the ACCC the appropriate enforcement agency and adding a civil penalty provision for contraventions; thirdly, ensure the Inspector-General for Water Compliance does not have oversight of the ACCC or the Commonwealth or basin agencies that the ACCC regulates in relation to the integrity and conduct obligations in the bill; and, fourthly, to make minor and technical amendments in response to feedback from Commonwealth and basin state agencies and to ensure the bill would operate as intended.