Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Education) Share this | Hansard source

In the context of the 450 gigalitres-amendment that is in front of us, Senator Xenophon, you are absolutely right to raise those issues. I ask the parliamentary secretary on the issue of 'up to 450 gigs': if the government is not going to agree to the amendment to have in place up to 450 gigalitres, which is entirely the appropriate thing to do, if the 450 gigalitres simply cannot be reached through the infrastructure efficiencies and the works and measures, what happens then? What if you simply cannot get that? We have already had some discussions around the 650 currently in place for the states to reach through the environmental works and measures and the efficiencies. There is some consternation about whether we will be able to reach that. What happens in the event that we do not have the wording 'up to 450 gigalitres' and that simply cannot be found through the efficiencies and the works and measures?