1.1
The Government members of the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and
Transport References Committee (committee) acknowledge the very real need for
communities across the Murray Darling Basin to have confidence that the rules
that govern the use of water are complied with. The implementation of reviews
undertaken into compliance and enforcement at the state level and by the
Commonwealth has seen a range of actions taken over the past 12 months to 18 months.
1.2
In June the Murray Darling Basin Ministerial Council approved the Basin
Compliance Compact. The Compact acknowledges that state and territory governments
remain responsible for monitoring and enforcing water use and take. The Compact
sets out a range of state and territory and Murray Darling Basin Authority
(MDBA) commitments to improve the measurement of water take, strengthen
compliance and enforcement arrangements, improve the protection of
environmental flows and secure the timely completion of water resource plans.
1.3
In respect to recommendations 1-3 of the committee’s report relating to
the separation of the MDBA into a Murray Darling Basin Corporation and a Basin
Plan Regulator, the Government Senators consider these recommendations to be
premature. The Productivity Commission is yet to deliver its Final Report into
the Murray‑Darling Basin Plan and since the release of its Draft Report has held extensive consultations with Basin communities and Basin stakeholders.
1.4
The Government Senators are concerned that there are a range of risks in
pursuing a separation of the functions of the MDBA at this time. These include
risks to the implementation and delivery of the Basin Plan itself by 30 June
2019. Any separation would also require the approval of all jurisdictions and
significant renegotiation of both the Murray-Darling Basin Agreement and the Water
Act 2007.
Senator Barry O’Sullivan Senator
Slade Brockman
Deputy Chair Senator for Western Australia
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