Senator WONG (Minister for Climate Change and Water) (9:51 PM) —That was a valiant attempt by Senator Birmingham, but I think it is absolutely unclear as to whether or not these amendments would in fact prohibit the sort of remedial or emergency work—

Senator Birmingham —Rubbish.

Senator WONG —You can shake your head, Senator Birmingham, but I am sure that there are many lawyers in the world who could make that argument. These amendments, at best, you could assert—

Senator Birmingham —Perhaps you’d like to propose a way to fix it, then.

Senator WONG —If I could finish, Senator Birmingham. I know you are getting a bit tetchy because your little political game is not looking as good. You might actually be putting something up that means that Adelaide, if it made a decision that it needed to shift the off-takes, could not, in relation to a project that your Victorian Liberal colleagues want to use the water of. I know that is embarrassing and I know it is embarrassing that Mr Turnbull did not move an amendment to stop this, but I cannot help that. What I can do is respond. I have given the chamber information in relation to Minister Garrett’s approvals. I have undertaken—because I do not have those officers here tonight—to provide Senator Xenophon with information. If necessary, I can table a copy—I will check on the appropriateness of it—of the approvals and the conditions associated with that. I think, however, that anybody who is listening to this can understand what game is being played.

It is the case, Senator Xenophon, that the assessment of this project, in terms of how the Commonwealth might approach the assessment, would not be the same if we were to be funding it. That is very poorly expressed. If we were funding a project, we would take a different view than Minister Garrett has to take under the EPBC Act. So that is the case. I am simply making the point that he has put in place a range of conditions which are designed to safeguard the environmental water component. They are designed to ensure that Melbourne, insofar as is possible, only receives a share of the water that is saved through the modernisation project. So those are the conditions that Minister Garrett has imposed, and I will provide the detail of those when I am able to. In relation to this amendment, I am not sure I can assist Senator Birmingham any further on this point.