Perin Davey (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I, and also on behalf of Senator McKenzie, move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that over 2.6 million Australians call the Murray-Darling Basin home, with $24 billion worth of food produced annually to feed the nation and the world;

(b) acknowledges the significant financial and emotional hardship faced by primary producers along the Murray-Darling Basin communities, arising from outdated, fragmented, and unfair regulations around water management;

(c) welcomes the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Interim Report into Murray­-Darling Basin Water Markets, that notes major reform is necessary to build integrity within the water market and ensure the water market operates in an open, fair and efficient way;

(d) further notes that the ACCC is now undertaking targeted consultation on the observations in its interim report before delivering a final report in November 2020; and

(e) calls on state governments to work with the Federal Government to explore solutions to the ACCC's interim observations, with a view to implementing key final report recommendations relating to:

  (i) increasing water data availability and pricing transparency,

  (ii) implementing a licence system to accredit and regulate water brokers, and

  (iii) immediately separating the Murray Darling Basin Authority enforcement and river management functions, in line with the Productivity Commission's 2019 review.