Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

That is a pretty fantastic response. The government has agreed to a register of foreign ownership of water entitlements in a deal with the Greens—the 'job-destroying Greens' that this government cannot wait to point the finger at; now it embraces them—and the minister in the chamber cannot even tell the Senate who currently holds the information on ownership of water entitlements.

Senator Cormann interjecting—

Well, apparently that is a technical issue! It is a minor decision! It is a minor technical policy issue—who actually holds the information on ownership of water entitlements. That apparently is a technical issue that the minister cannot tell us about. So I ask this question: why were the states and territories not consulted before the government determined to agree to a national register, or a register, of foreign ownership of water entitlements within 12 months?