Senator Joyce and 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.
Senator Joyce said, “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.
“It is contemptuous in the extreme for elected politicians to ignore the reasonable demands of their constituents for answers. Both Labor and the Coalition have promised a triple-bottom line that is an equal balance between economic, social and environmental factors. The Labor Party’s refusal to even look at whether the Act provides this questions their seriousness to a triple-bottom line commitment.
“I have been calling for a Parliamentary inquiry into the Water Act for three months.
“At the start of this debate Minister Crean stated:
That guide [the Guide to the proposed Basin Plan] was limited because the terms of reference it got in the very first instance … didn't allow for sufficient consideration of what's referred to as the socio-economic consequences; in short hand the human cost.*
It is quite amazing then that 3 months on the Labor Party is one of the last holdouts against the need to look into the Act. What explains this amazing reversal? It might have less to do with the Act and more do with the need to protect their alliance with the Greens.
“I wrote to Mr Windsor on the 28 October 2011 suggesting that his inquiry look into the Water Act. I have yet to receive a response.
“The fact the Mr Windsor has spent the last couple of months saying that he didn’t vote for the Act but won’t investigate whether the Act should be changed defies any sense. How do we reconcile the statement the Act is not worth voting for but, at the same time, the Act is worth defending to the death?
“What is absolutely amazing is the option- in, option-out approach to transparency that the Greens have.
“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.
* Simon Crean, ABC AM, 15 October 2010
Senator Joyce
At Giving of Notices
Business of the Senate Notice of Motion
Committee Reference - Senator Joyce
Mr President
I give notice that on the next day of sitting, I shall move—
(1) That the following matter be referred to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee for inquiry and report by Wednesday 11 May 2011:
The provisions of the Water Act 2007 (the Act), with particular regard to the direction it provides for the development of a Basin Plan, including:
(a) any ambiguities or constraints in the Act which would prevent a Basin Plan from being developed on an equally weighted consideration of economic, social and environmental factors;
(b) the differences in legal interpretations of the Act;
(c) the constitutional power of the Commonwealth to legislate in the area of water;
(d) the role of relevant international agreements and the effect of those on the parts of the Act which direct the Basin Plan to give effect to those agreements, and their effect on the Act more generally;
(e) any amendments that would be required to ensure that economic, social and environmental factors are given equally weighted consideration in developing the Basin Plan; and
(f) any other related matter.
(2) In conducting its enquiry, the Committee should consult those with particular legal expertise in the area of water.