Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

(1) The Senate notes that:

(a) Menindee Lakes are the water source for irrigators, graziers, riparian land owners and communities in the lower Darling River valley;

(b) Menindee Lakes are culturally imperative to Aboriginal people, including the Barkandji as native title owners;

(c) water levels in Menindee Lakes have a direct financial relationship with property values and businesses in the lower Darling River valley;

(d) Menindee Lakes were at full capacity in 2014 and late 2016;

(e) releases from Menindee Lakes in the 2013-14 and 2016-17 water years by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority have emptied the Lakes twice in 3 years;

(f) environmental water was released from Menindee Lakes in the 2016-17 water year; and

(g) Menindee Lakes are currently at 7% storage capacity.

(2) That there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, by 30 November 2018, all documents and correspondence, including meeting minutes, relating to:

(a) releases from Menindee Lakes between 1 May 2013 and 28 February 2014; and 1 December 2016 and 31 December 2017; and

(b) environmental watering releases from Menindee Lakes between 1 December 2016 and 31 December 2017.

Question agreed to.