Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray Darling Basin) Share this | Hansard source

I understood that to be the case, but it is always useful to get this level of detail in the chamber debate as well so that it is transparent for all those who may not have tuned into the Senate estimates hearings. As I understand it, the budget papers allocate an additional $38.5 million over the forward estimates. Can you confirm as well that the number of staff required within the department of the environment purely to administer this new legislation rises by around 50 additional staff members in the coming years?