Bill
National Water Commission (Abolition) Bill 2015
passed, as at 2015-06-16. Environment portfolio.
- Sponsor
- Not recorded
- Portfolio
- Environment
Recorded stages
- introduced — 2014-09-25
- second reading — 2014-09-25
- second reading — 2014-12-02
- second reading — 2014-12-03
- second reading — 2015-05-13
- second reading — 2015-05-13
- committee — 2015-05-13
- third reading — 2015-05-13
- introduced — 2015-05-14
- second reading — 2015-05-26
- second reading — 2015-05-26
- second reading — 2015-05-26
- third reading — 2015-05-26
- passed — 2015-05-26
- royal assent — 2015-06-16
Divisions
- Long debate text truncated. — 2015-05-13, Senate: affirmative, ayes 32, noes 30
- Simon Birmingham by leave—I move government amendments on sheet ZA379 as revised: (1) Clause 2, page 1 (line 8), omit "1 January 2015", substitute "the day after this Act receives the Royal Assent". (2) Schedule 1, page 4 (after line 1), insert: _Productivity Commission Act 1998_ 1A Section 25 Before "The", insert "(1)". 1B At the end of section 25 Add: (2) Despite subsection (1), the Minister must appoint an Associate Commissioner for the purposes of an inquiry on the matter mentioned in subsection 87(1) or (2) or 88(1) or (2) of the _Water Act 2007_. (3) An Associate Commissioner appointed under subsection (2) must have extensive skills and experience in water resource management. (3) Schedule 1, item 6, page 5 (line 17), at the end of the heading to subsection 87(3), add "_etc._". (4) Schedule 1, item 6, page 5 (after line 26), after subsection 87(3), insert: (3A) Once the matter has been referred to the Productivity Commission for inquiry, the Chair of the Productivity Commission must establish a stakeholder working group in accordance with section 89. (5) Schedule 1, item 6, page 6 (line 23), at the end of the heading to subsection 88(3), add "_etc._". (6) Schedule 1, item 6, page 7 (after line 3), after subsection 88(3), insert: (3A) Once the matter has been referred to the Productivity Commission for inquiry, the Chair of the Productivity Commission must establish a stakeholder working group in accordance with section 89. _Regard to be had to objectives of National Water Initiative_ (3B) When conducting an inquiry, the Productivity Commission must have regard to the objectives provided for in clause 23 of the National Water Initiative. (7) Schedule 1, item 6, page 7 (after line 14), at the end of Part 3, add: 89 Stakeholder working group (1) A stakeholder working group is to be established for each matter referred to the Productivity Commission for inquiry (a _referred matter_). (2) A stakeholder working group for a referred matter: (a) is to exchange informa — 2015-05-13, Senate: affirmative, ayes 32, noes 29
- Simon Birmingham I move: That this bill be now read a third time. — 2015-05-13, Senate: affirmative, ayes 32, noes 29
- Sharman Stone The National Water Commission (Abolition) Bill 2015 is, as far as I am concerned, a no-brainer. We are not going to abolish all the functions that the commission once had. We are simply sending them across to other agencies, like the Productivity Commission, the Bureau of Meteorology and ABARES. We are saying that what it used to do was important but we do not need to have a stand-alone entity to undertake the monitoring of Australia's progress on water reform. So I think it is a good move. If it saves us $21 million over the forward estimates, that is a good thing. If it saves us a few extra bits of regulation, red tape, that is to be applauded. I therefore want to move beyond this contest about whether or not we should have abolished the National Water Commission to talk about the significance of water itself: why we didn't simply put an axe through this agency and walk away; why we in fact retasked other important agencies to do the work. Before getting to that point, I want to correct a few things that a previous speaker, the member for Bendigo, said. I know she is new to Bendigo. She is my neighbour in the electorate next door. I am very pleased that she is now engaging with this water issue. She has been north beyond Bendigo and has visited my irrigators. I applaud her for doing that. She quoted Kagomi as saying that their biggest problem was the management of water in the system and therefore they want to keep the National Water Commission. No. I have to make that clear. Kagomi's report—which I too have a copy of, and I have spoken at length to their MD—makes the point that they no longer have enough access to water in the Goulburn-Murray Water's system, which is part of the Murray-Darling Basin. Their access is now very much restricted, given half of the water has been removed from the irrigation system. The price of the water in the temporary market is often beyond what their tomato growers can pay. That is the No. 1 issue for this company, wh — 2015-05-26, House of Representatives: affirmative, ayes 78, noes 49
Plain-language summary
Written by a model from the explanatory memorandum; not the record, as at 2014-09-25.
The bill would abolish the National Water Commission and move its key duties to existing federal agencies.
The Productivity Commission would take over the triennial assessments of the National Water Initiative and the five-yearly audits of the Basin Plan, and would have to consult a stakeholder working group for each inquiry.
The bill would start the day after it receives royal assent, and the commission's final annual report would cover a different period.
- The bill abolishes the National Water Commission.
- The bill transfers the commission's key functions to existing Commonwealth agencies.
- The bill requires the Productivity Commission to consult a stakeholder working group for each inquiry.
- The bill requires at least one Productivity Commissioner to have relevant water management expertise.
- The bill makes minor technical changes to the commencement date and the final annual report period.
The National Water Commission, the Productivity Commission, and stakeholders in water management, including agricultural, environmental, industry, Indigenous, and urban water bodies.
Sources
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