CHAPTER 1
Introduction
1.1
On 9 February 2011, the Senate referred the provisions of the Water
Act 2007 (Cth) (Water Act) to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References
Committee (committee) for inquiry and report by 11 May 2011. On 11 May
2011, the committee received an extension from the Senate for this inquiry to
6 June 2011 to enable a public hearing to be held in Canberra on
18 May 2011. On 6 June 2011, the committee tabled an interim
report. The interim report stated that the committee required additional time
to ensure that the issues raised during the inquiry were thoroughly considered
and appropriately addressed, and that the committee intended to present its
final report by 10 June 2011.
1.2
The terms of reference are as follows:
(1) The
provisions of the Water Act 2007 (Act), with particular reference 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) That in
conducting its inquiry, the committee should consult those with particular
legal expertise in the area of water.
Scope of this report
1.3
The structure of this report is as follows:
-
Chapter 2 outlines the background to the inquiry;
-
Chapter 3 discusses the issues raised during the inquiry; and
-
Chapter 4 provides the committee's view and recommendations.
Conduct of the inquiry
1.4
The committee advertised the inquiry in The Australian newspaper
and wrote to over 54 organisations and individuals, inviting submissions by 18 March 2011.
Details of the inquiry were placed on the committee's website.
1.5
The committee received 100 submissions from various individuals and organisations,
and these are listed at Appendix 1. Public submissions were placed on the committee's
website.
1.6
A public hearing was held in Canberra on 18 May 2011. A list
of the witnesses who appeared at the hearings is at Appendix 2, and copies of
the Hansard transcript are available through the Internet at https://www.aph.gov.au/hansard.
Acknowledgement
1.7
The committee thanks those organisations and individuals who made submissions
and gave evidence at the public hearings.
Note on references
1.8
References in this report are to individual submissions as received by
the committee, not to a bound volume. References to the committee Hansard are
to proof Hansard: page numbers may vary between the proof and the
official Hansard transcript.
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