Senator JACINTA COLLINS (Victoria—Manager of Government Business in the Senate and Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations) (12:55): I move: That the provisions of paragraphs (5) to (8) of standing order 111 not apply to the Water Amendment (Long-term Average Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment) Bill 2012, allowing it to be considered during this period of sittings. Passing this motion to exempt the Water Amendment (Long-term Average Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment) Bill 2012 will allow debate on this bill later today. The bill needs to be passed to allow Minister Burke to receive the final Murray-Darling Basin Plan. The basin plan can be tabled in parliament before the end of this year. Tabling the plan will give certainty to environmental protection benchmarks and to communities in the basin. These are significant processes for delivering the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, important for both the health of the rivers in eastern Australia and the health of the people who live in these areas. I recognise that there have been calls for the passage of this amendment bill to be delayed until further legislation is introduced. The Greens have called for this bill to be delayed until it can be considered with the special account bill for the plan. I am advised that the changes the Greens want to the plan are only achievable through the special account bill. Passage of this amendment bill will not affect consideration of amendments to the special account bill, but its delay will halt progress on the tabling of the basin plan and therefore progress on implementation of the plan. Regardless of opinions about the details of the basin plan, this would not be a constructive delay. I also note that this amendment bill has been considered by both House and Senate committees. With this level of scrutiny, all senators should be in a position to vote on this bill notwithstanding their views on other legislation. Likewise, I think I can say that all senators want to see what a final plan looks like. Just to be very clear, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority cannot complete the next stage of the process and give Minister Burke the final plan until this bill is passed. The Senate should allow debate on the amendment bill to progress today, and I recommend this exemption motion to the chamber.