Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The Appropriation (Water Entitlements and Home Insulation) Bill 2009-2010 provides funding for the Home Insulation Program and departmental funding for costs associated with the acceleration of the water buybacks within the Murray-Darling Basin system. The measures provided for in this bill allow administered funding of $695.8 million for the Home Insulation Program to be brought forward from 2010-11 and departmental funds of $4.9 million to be brought forward: $4.4 million from 2013-14 and $0.5 million from 2013-15 from the Water for the Future Restoring the Balance in the Murray-Darling Basin Program.

The other bill, the Appropriation (Water Entitlements) Bill 2009-2010 provides critical funding for the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts and allows it to accelerate water buybacks within the Murray-Darling Basin system. The measures provided for in the bill will enable $650 million for water buybacks to be brought forward from later years of the Restoring the Balance in the Murray-Darling Basin Program under the government’s Water for the Future initiative. I thank all those who contributed their comments.

Question agreed to.

Bills read a second time.