Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

It would be fair to say that over that seven-month period many things were considered, and I would be surprised if all the issues that the senator has raised were not put into the mix and considered. One thing that I would point her to is the $10 billion National Plan for Water Security. Five billion dollars of that is set aside for modernising irrigation in Australia and $3 billion is to address overallocation, which will enable purchasing of entitlements and structural adjustment. We believe that that can and will be done on a voluntary basis and, without delaying the Senate, I suppose it is the same approach we had to Securing Our Fishing Future. We had money made available to buy back licences, albeit on a voluntary rather than a compulsory basis. We believe that that would work in these circumstances and we do not see the need to go down the route of compulsory acquisition.