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

This is a draft Basin Plan. It was released, as you know, on 28 November 2011 by the Chair of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, the Hon. Craig Knowles. The authority is now undertaking public consultation on the draft Basin Plan over a 20-week period. The authority has been holding both public and targeted meetings with stakeholders in numerous towns and cities across the basin following the release of the draft plan.

The government's position has always been that the Basin Plan should have a sound scientific foundation and that economic and social considerations should also be taken into account. Late last year the authority released a review undertaken by the CSIRO of the science underpinning the draft Basin Plan. The authority also released a further report, Socioeconomic analysis and the draft Basin Plan, which brings together the socioeconomic work considered by the authority to date. (Time expired)