Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing) | Hansard source

Labor welcomes the provisions set out in this bill, the Water Amendment (Indigenous Authority Member) Bill 2019, for a standing Indigenous member on the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. Labor believes in the principle that underlies this bill—that First Nations voices must be heard in the management of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan on a permanent basis. Historically, Indigenous people have been excluded from water management in Australia. Our First Nations people have deep, highly-valuable knowledge about the behaviour of their ecosystems which should be central to the Murray-Darling's restoration and management.

We note this bill only addresses one of the inadequacies identified in the South Australian royal commission where First Nations peoples are concerned. The appointment of a standing Indigenous authority member is long overdue. While Labor welcomes this bill, we note it falls short of the South Australian royal commission recommendation that the authority have two standing Indigenous members. One First Nations voice on the board should only be a first step to deeper engagement and consultation with First Nations peoples in the governance of the Murray-Darling Basin. We note there have been concerns about the drafting of the bill—that it might limit the available pool of potential candidates for the newly created position. We look forward to hearing from Aboriginal communities about this issue in the course of formulating our policy in the lead-up to the next election.