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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
New South Wales
Water (Commonwealth Powers)
Bill 2008
Contents
Page
1 Name of Act 2
2 Commencement 2
3 Definitions 2
4 Reference of matters 4
5 Termination of references 5
6 Effect of termination of amendment reference before initial
reference 5
7 Evidence 6
8 Amendment of Water Management Act 2000 No 92 6
9 Consequential amendment of other Acts 6
10 Repeal of Murray-Darling Basin Act 1992 No 65 6
11 River Murray Traffic Regulation 2005 6
Schedule 1 Amendment of Water Management Act 2000 7
Schedule 2 Consequential amendment of other Acts 10
b2008-106-33.d09
New South Wales
Water (Commonwealth Powers)
Bill 2008
No , 2008
A Bill for
An Act to refer certain matters relating to water management to the Commonwealth
Parliament; to amend the Water Management Act 2000 and other Acts; and to repeal
the Murray-Darling Basin Act 1992.
See also the Water Management Amendment Bill 2008.
Clause 1 Water (Commonwealth Powers) Bill 2008
The Legislature of New South Wales enacts: 1
1 Name of Act 2
This Act is the Water (Commonwealth Powers) Act 2008. 3
2 Commencement 4
(1) This Act commences on the date of assent, except as provided by 5
subsection (2). 6
(2) Sections 8, 9, 10 and 11, and Schedules 1 and 2, commence on a day or 7
days to be appointed by proclamation. 8
3 Definitions 9
(1) In this Act: 10
amendment reference means the reference under section 4 (1) (b). 11
Basin water resources means water resources within or beneath that 12
part of this State that comprises the Murray-Darling Basin (as defined 13
in the terms, or substantially in the terms, set out in the initial referred 14
provisions), but does not include ground water resources of the Great 15
Artesian Basin. 16
Commonwealth Water Act means the Water Act 2007 of the 17
Commonwealth, as in force from time to time. 18
Commonwealth Water Act instrument means any instrument (whether 19
or not of a legislative character) that is made or issued under the 20
Commonwealth Water Act. 21
critical human water needs means the needs for a minimum amount of 22
water, that can only reasonably be provided from Basin water resources, 23
required to meet: 24
(a) core human consumption requirements in urban and rural areas, 25
and 26
(b) those non-human consumption requirements that a failure to 27
meet would cause prohibitively high social, economic or national 28
security costs. 29
express amendment of the Commonwealth Water Act means the direct 30
amendment of the text of Parts 1A, 2A, 4, 4A, 10A and 11A of that Act 31
or of definitions of terms used in those Parts (whether by the insertion, 32
omission, repeal, substitution or relocation of words or matter) by 33
another Commonwealth Act or by an instrument under a 34
Commonwealth Act, but does not include the enactment by a 35
Commonwealth Act of a provision that has or will have substantive 36
effect otherwise than as part of the text of those Parts or those 37
definitions. 38
initial reference means the reference under section 4 (1) (a). 39
Page 2
Water (Commonwealth Powers) Bill 2008 Clause 3
initial referred provisions means the text of Parts 1A, 2A, 4, 4A, 10A 1
and 11A set out in the tabled text. 2
Murray-Darling Basin Agreement means the Murray-Darling Basin 3
Agreement (a copy of which is set out in the tabled text), as amended 4
from time to time by the parties to that Agreement in accordance with 5
the procedure set out in that Agreement. 6
reference means: 7
(a) the initial reference, or 8
(b) the amendment reference. 9
referred subject-matters means any of the following: 10
(a) the powers, functions and duties of Commonwealth agencies 11
that: 12
(i) relate to Basin water resources, and 13
(ii) are conferred by or under the Murray-Darling Basin 14
Agreement, 15
(b) the management of Basin water resources to meet critical human 16
water needs, 17
(c) water charging in relation to Basin water resources (other than for 18
urban water supply after the removal of the water from a Basin 19
water resource), 20
(d) the transformation of entitlements to water from a Basin water 21
resource to enable trading in those water entitlements, 22
(e) the application, in relation to water resources that are not Basin 23
water resources, of provisions of the Commonwealth Water Act 24
dealing with the subject-matters specified in paragraphs (c) and 25
(d) (being an application of a kind that is authorised by the law of 26
this State), 27
(f) the transfer of assets, rights and liabilities of the Murray-Darling 28
Basin Commission to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority 29
established by the Commonwealth Water Act, and other 30
transitional matters relating to the replacement of that 31
Commission. 32
tabled text means the text of the proposed Water Amendment Bill 2008 33
for a Commonwealth Act as tabled by or on behalf of the Minister for 34
the River Murray in the House of Assembly of South Australia on 35
23 September 2008. 36
(2) A reference in this Act to a Part of (or to be inserted in) the 37
Commonwealth Water Act includes a reference to any Schedule to (or 38
to be inserted in) that Act that contains provisions enacted for the 39
purposes of that Part. 40
Page 3
Clause 4 Water (Commonwealth Powers) Bill 2008
4 Reference of matters 1
(1) The following matters are referred to the Parliament of the 2
Commonwealth: 3
(a) the matters to which the initial referred provisions relate, but only 4
to the extent of the making of laws with respect to those matters 5
by including the initial referred provisions in the Commonwealth 6
Water Act in the terms, or substantially in the terms, set out in 7
Schedule 1 of the tabled text, 8
(b) the referred subject-matters, but only to the extent of the making 9
of laws with respect to any such matter by making express 10
amendments of the Commonwealth Water Act. 11
(2) The reference of a matter under subsection (1) has effect only: 12
(a) if and to the extent that the matter is not included in the legislative 13
powers of the Parliament of the Commonwealth (otherwise than 14
by a reference for the purposes of section 51 (xxxvii) of the 15
Constitution of the Commonwealth), and 16
(b) if and to the extent that the matter is included in the legislative 17
powers of the Parliament of this State. 18
(3) The operation of each paragraph of subsection (1) is not affected by the 19
other paragraph. 20
(4) For the avoidance of doubt, it is the intention of the Parliament of this 21
State that: 22
(a) the Commonwealth Water Act may be expressly amended, or 23
have its operation otherwise affected, at any time after the 24
commencement of this Act by provisions of Commonwealth Acts 25
whose operation is based on legislative powers that the 26
Parliament of the Commonwealth has apart from under the 27
references under subsection (1), and 28
(b) the Commonwealth Water Act may at any time have its operation 29
affected, otherwise than by express amendment, at any time by 30
provisions of Commonwealth Water Act instruments. 31
(5) Despite any other provision of this section, a reference under this 32
section has effect for a period: 33
(a) beginning when this section commences, and 34
(b) ending at the end of the day fixed under section 5 as the day on 35
which the reference is to terminate, 36
but no longer. 37
Page 4
Water (Commonwealth Powers) Bill 2008 Clause 5
5 Termination of references 1
(1) The Governor may, at any time, by proclamation published in the 2
Gazette, fix a day as the day on which: 3
(a) the references terminate, or 4
(b) the amendment reference terminates. 5
(2) The Governor may, by proclamation published in the Gazette, revoke a 6
proclamation published under subsection (1), in which case the revoked 7
proclamation is taken (for the purposes of section 4) never to have been 8
published. 9
(3) A revoking proclamation has effect only if published before the day 10
fixed under subsection (1). 11
(4) The revocation of a proclamation published under subsection (1) does 12
not prevent publication of a further proclamation under that subsection. 13
(5) If the amendment reference has terminated, the expression the 14
references in subsection (1) (a) refers to the initial reference only. 15
6 Effect of termination of amendment reference before initial reference 16
(1) If the amendment reference terminates before the initial reference, the 17
termination of the amendment reference does not affect: 18
(a) laws that were made under the amendment reference before that 19
termination (whether or not they have come into operation before 20
that termination), or 21
(b) the continued operation in the State of the Commonwealth Water 22
Act as in operation immediately before that termination or as 23
subsequently amended or affected by: 24
(i) laws referred to in paragraph (a) that come into operation 25
after that termination, or 26
(ii) provisions referred to in section 4 (4) (a) or (b). 27
(2) Accordingly, the amendment reference continues to have effect for the 28
purposes of subsection (1) unless the initial reference is terminated. 29
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to or in relation to an amendment of the 30
Commonwealth Water Act that is excluded from the operation of this 31
section by the proclamation that terminates the amendment reference. 32
(4) For the purposes of subsection (1): 33
(a) the laws referred to in subsection (1) (a) include Commonwealth 34
Water Act instruments, and 35
(b) the reference in subsection (1) (b) to the Commonwealth Water 36
Act as in operation immediately before the termination of the 37
amendment reference includes that legislation as affected by 38
Page 5
Clause 7 Water (Commonwealth Powers) Bill 2008
Commonwealth Water Act instruments that have come into 1
operation before that time. 2
7 Evidence 3
(1) A certificate of the Clerk of the House of Assembly of South Australia 4
certifying that a document is an accurate copy of the tabled text, or is an 5
accurate copy of a particular part or of particular provisions of the tabled 6
text, is admissible in evidence in any proceedings and is evidence: 7
(a) of the matter certified, and 8
(b) that the text of the proposed Commonwealth Bill was tabled in 9
the House of Assembly of South Australia as referred to in the 10
definition of tabled text in section 3. 11
(2) Subsection (1) does not affect any other way in which the tabling or 12
content of the tabled text, or the accuracy of a copy of the tabled text or 13
of a part or provisions of the tabled text, may be established. 14
8 Amendment of Water Management Act 2000 No 92 15
The Water Management Act 2000 is amended as set out in Schedule 1. 16
9 Consequential amendment of other Acts 17
The Acts specified in Schedule 2 are amended as set out in that 18
Schedule. 19
10 Repeal of Murray-Darling Basin Act 1992 No 65 20
The Murray-Darling Basin Act 1992 is repealed. 21
11 River Murray Traffic Regulation 2005 22
The River Murray Traffic Regulation 2005 is taken to be a regulation 23
made under the Water Management Act 2000. 24
Page 6
Water (Commonwealth Powers) Bill 2008
Amendment of Water Management Act 2000 Schedule 1
Schedule 1 Amendment of Water Management Act 1
2000 2
(Section 8) 3
[1] Sections 6, 16, 46, 87AA and 87AB 4
Insert "State" before "government policy" wherever occurring. 5
[2] Section 46 Making or amendment of management plan 6
Insert "but not if that purpose is also the purpose referred to in paragraph (d)," 7
after "inadequate," in section 46 (1) (b). 8
[3] Section 46 (1) (d) 9
Insert at the end of section 46 (1) (c): 10
, or 11
(d) the purpose of the reduction to water allocations is to 12
enable the replacement plan or amended plan, as the case 13
may be, to be accredited under the Water Act 2007 of the 14
Commonwealth. 15
[4] Section 46 (2) (a) 16
Omit "or (c)". Insert instead "or (b)". 17
[5] Section 87AA Compensation payable in certain circumstances for 18
reductions in water allocations arising after initial period that 19
management plan is in force 20
Insert "(1) (c)" after "section 46" in section 87AA (5). 21
[6] Section 87AA (6) 22
Insert "that is specified under section 46 (1) (b) by the Minister as being" after 23
"water allocations". 24
[7] Section 87AA (8) and (8A) 25
Omit section 87AA (8). Insert instead: 26
(8) This section has effect in relation to water sources that are Basin 27
water resources only while there is in force an agreement 28
between the State and the Commonwealth (separate from the 29
agreement referred to in subsection (8A)) for or with respect to 30
supplementing the payment of compensation under this section. 31
(8A) This section has effect in relation to water sources that are not 32
Basin water resources only while there is in force an agreement 33
between the State and the Commonwealth (separate from the 34
Page 7
Water (Commonwealth Powers) Bill 2008
Schedule 1 Amendment of Water Management Act 2000
agreement referred to in subsection (8)) for or with respect to 1
supplementing the payment of compensation under this section. 2
[8] Section 87AA (9) 3
Omit "the agreement referred to in subsection (8)". 4
Insert instead "the agreements referred to in subsections (8) and (8A)". 5
[9] Chapter 8 (Administration), Part 3A 6
Insert after Part 3 of Chapter 8: 7
Part 3A Murray-Darling Basin 8
386A Definitions 9
In this Part: 10
Agreement means the Murray-Darling Basin Agreement set out 11
in Schedule 1 to the Water Act 2007 of the Commonwealth. 12
Basin Officials Committee means the committee of that name 13
established under the Agreement. 14
386B Appointments to Basin Officials Committee 15
(1) The Minister is authorised to appoint, under and in accordance 16
with the terms of the Agreement: 17
(a) a person as a member of the Basin Officials Committee 18
representing the State, and 19
(b) a person to act as the member of the Basin Officials 20
Committee in place of the member appointed under 21
paragraph (a). 22
(2) The Minister may, at any time, terminate the appointment of any 23
such person. 24
(3) The regulations may make provision for or with respect to the 25
appointment of, or the holding of office by, any such person. 26
386C Minister may act for Government of NSW 27
The Minister is authorised to act on behalf of the State as a 28
Contracting Government under the Agreement. 29
Page 8
Water (Commonwealth Powers) Bill 2008
Amendment of Water Management Act 2000 Schedule 1
386D Authorisation of works, operations and measures under the 1
Agreement 2
Subject to the law of this State and the Agreement: 3
(a) the construction, maintenance, operation and control in the 4
State of any works under the Agreement, and 5
(b) the carrying out of any of the operations referred to in the 6
Agreement, and 7
(c) the implementation of any measures referred to in the 8
Agreement, 9
are authorised. 10
386E Constructing Authority for NSW 11
(1) The Ministerial Corporation, the State Water Corporation 12
constituted under the State Water Corporation Act 2004 and any 13
other public authority authorised by the Minister by notice 14
published in the Gazette are each Constructing Authorities for the 15
purposes of the Agreement and authorised to carry out the 16
functions of a Constructing Authority under the Agreement. 17
(2) The Minister may determine any dispute as to which authority 18
should act as the Constructing Authority for a particular work, 19
operation or measure. 20
386F Certain documents to be tabled in Parliament 21
The Minister is to table or cause to be tabled in each House of 22
Parliament: 23
(a) a copy of each annual report of the Murray-Darling Basin 24
Authority received by the Minister under the Water Act 25
2007 of the Commonwealth, and 26
(b) a copy of each amendment of the Agreement that takes 27
effect under the terms of the Agreement, 28
within 15 sitting days of that House after the report is received or 29
the amendment takes effect (as the case requires). 30
[10] Dictionary 31
Insert in alphabetical order: 32
Basin water resources has the same meaning as it has in the 33
Water Act 2007 of the Commonwealth. 34
State government policy means policy of the Government of 35
New South Wales. 36
Page 9
Water (Commonwealth Powers) Bill 2008
Schedule 2 Consequential amendment of other Acts
Schedule 2 Consequential amendment of other Acts 1
(Section 9) 2
2.1 Snowy Hydro Corporatisation Act 1997 No 99 3
Section 27 Public consultation on review or variation of licence 4
Omit section 27 (3). 5
2.2 State Authorities Superannuation Act 1987 No 211 6
Schedule 1 Employers 7
Omit the matter relating to the Murray-Darling Basin Commission. 8
2.3 Superannuation Act 1916 No 28 9
Schedule 3 List of employers 10
Omit the matter relating to the Murray-Darling Basin Commission. 11
Page 10
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