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00:00 The only way to ward off the worst effects of drought is to have water allocated to the environment to keep it healthy during tough times.
00:09 And it's disappointing that we have to extend the deadline.
00:12 This is not something we embrace, it's not something we want.
00:15 But we recognise the impossibility of delivering the entire plan in one year.
00:22 So we're happy to give licence, support, accommodation for a longer deadline of 450 gigalitres in exchange for the Commonwealth going into the environment and changing the legislation to allow people who want to save water to the environment to be able to do that.
00:39 Coming out of the Millennium Drought, the Basin States and all of the people that rely on the Murray-Darling Basin were determined to do better in the future.
00:52 And as the Deputy Premier has said, despite the fact we've had a couple of wet years recently, we know that in Australia the next drought is just around the corner.
01:04 So we must complete the objectives of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
01:10 What are we proposing?
01:12 With this new agreement, we are proposing more time.
01:16 We know we need to give more time to some of the big water saving projects to be delivered.
01:23 So more time for the plan.
01:25 We're extending the deadline for the delivery of those water saving and water efficiency projects to 2026.
01:33 We're also providing more time for the delivery of the 450 gigalitres of additional environmental water that is so important for the plan, particularly for South Australia.
01:45 We're putting more money on the table.
01:47 So as well as more time, we're offering more money for the completion of those projects for communities that are affected by voluntary water buyback.
01:58 There will be more money on the table.
02:00 We're offering more options.
02:02 We don't want to close off options for delivering the plan.
02:05 We want to make sure that every practical option is considered.
02:10 And that includes, for example, removing the cap on voluntary water buybacks.