5657

2008

The Parliament of the

Commonwealth of Australia

THE SENATE

Water Amendment Bill 2008

(Amendments to be moved by Senator Nash on behalf of the Opposition in committee of the whole)

(1)     Schedule 1, item 1, page 11 (after line 2), after subsection 18H(1), insert:

          (1A)  Until the States of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia have each achieved the objective of increasing the flow of water in the River Murray as required by the Living Murray Initiative, these States’ water savings programs are to be independently audited and, as soon as the saved water becomes available, the water must be allocated to the Living Murray Initiative and must not be used for any other purpose.

 [Living Murray Initiative]

(2)     Schedule 2, item 50A (inserted by amendment (1) on sheet [5622-revised 3]), after subsection 21(10), insert:

        (10A)  To avoid doubt:

                     (a)  the delivery of water for the initiatives of the Water for Rivers project was an existing use of water prior to 3 July 2008; and

                     (b)  the taking of water for the initiatives of the Water for Rivers project is not contrary to subsection 21(8); and

                     (c)  the construction and operation of water infrastructure for the initiatives of the Water for Rivers project is not contrary to subsection 257(1); and

                     (d)  all commenced and provisionally agreed Snowy River environmental flows are preserved and excluded from the provisions of subsections 21(8), 21(9) and 257(1).

[Water for Rivers project]