Last week, the Coalition, with the support of Senator Fielding and Senator Xenophon, succeeded in establishing a Senate inquiry into the Water Act to investigate whether it does provide an equal balance between economic, social and environmental factors. 

 It was clear from when the Guide to the proposed Basin Plan was released last October that it was based on a process which took care of the environment first and counted the bodies later.

Since then, the former Chair of the MDBA, Mike Taylor, constitutional law expert Professor George Williams and Professor Judith Sloan all agree that the environment takes primacy under the Water Act 2007.

The Senate inquiry now provides an opportunity for everyone involved in the Murray-Darling Basin reform, and the legal minds with the expertise, to provide practical solutions to improve the Act and insulate it against court challenge.

I encourage everyone to get involved in making a real difference in delivering outcomes that protect Australians’ access to cheap, affordable food, maintains the family farm for generations and guarantees the health of our environment.

The inquiry will report by 11 May 2011.

Submissions should be received by 18 March 2011.

The Committee is seeking written submissions from interested individuals and organisations preferably in electronic form submitted online or sent by email to legcon.sen@aph.gov.au as an attached Adobe PDF or MS Word format document. The email must include full postal address and contact details.Alternatively, written submissions may be sent to:

Committee Secretary
Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia