Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I can confirm that Minister Hunt issued a notice on 24 October 2013—that was one of the first actions he took as the Minister for the Environment—notifying the proponent of the Watermark coal project, and of course the public, that the water trigger would be applied to the project. The notice was published on the Department of the Environment website, as is normal practice. No contact has been made with the IESC since they provided their advice, which again is standard practice. The project was going through the New South Wales approval system until the final Planning Assessment Commission report was provided to the Commonwealth on 29 January this year. That is when the Commonwealth assessment recommenced. As I indicated in answer to the first part of the question, subsequent to that the minister has taken the step of stopping the clock on this project to ensure that the most up-to-date and relevant IESC advice is taken into account so that we have the most robust scientific information to make an informed decision. (Time expired)