28th Nov 2023, 1:00 PM – Senate Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Bill 2023 - Second Reading - First Peoples

The majority voted against an amendment to the usual second reading motion (which is "that the bill be read a second time" - parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill). The amendment was introduced by Victorian Senator Lidia Thorpe (Independent).

Amendment text

At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate:

(a) acknowledges the historical and ongoing exclusion of First Peoples from the use and management of Basin water resources; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

(i) recognise and respect the Sovereign rights of First Peoples in the Murray-Darling Basin to manage and care for lands and waters,

(ii) undertake work and consultation to align all water legislation and policies with the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,

(iii) ensure that the Minister for the Environment and Water and relevant water agencies, including the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, are required to consult and cooperate in good faith with First Nations in the Basin through their own representative institutions in order to obtain free, prior and informed consent in all decisions around water management,

(iv) recognise that women hold important water knowledge and reflect this in consultation with First Peoples around water use and management; and

(v) commence Treaty processes with all sovereign language groups so that all Nations can self-determine their own aspirations in relation to water access, use and ownership".