Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kingston for the question. The member for Kingston has been a champion of Murray-Darling reform. I am pleased to say that the reforms that were signed into law last year are locked in as of today. The disallowance period expires today. After a century of a tug of war between states, what was required was to get a moment in time when politicians from around the country were willing to accept that the negotiation could only be won by the rivers themselves. Whether it was the communities that were reliant on the rivers, producers who were reliant on the rivers or those who care about the environment seeing the degradation of the rivers, it was only ever going to be solved when the negotiation was won not by any one state but by the Murray-Darling Basin.

In doing that, that moment in time that was required began late last year, when, after the plan had been signed into law, this parliament voted in massive numbers to keep the plan in place. That moment concludes today, where the disallowance period expires. It is now clear that after inaction and challenge for more than a century we have a situation where a century of degradation now turns the corner and, year after year after year, we see the Murray-Darling Basin being restored to health.

There are many members of the community who deserve acknowledgement for their part in a long-run campaign.

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