SOUTHERN FORESTS
IRRIGATION SCHEME
563. Hon DIANE EVERS to the Minister for Regional Development:
I refer to the proposed southern
forests irrigation scheme.
(1) Will the
minister please table the original business case for the scheme and any
subsequent versions; and, if not, why not?
(2) Will the
minister please table the state's business case and documentation that
was provided to Infrastructure Australia when requesting commonwealth funding;
and, if not, why not?
Hon ALANNAH MacTIERNAN
replied:
I thank the member for the question.
(1) I am advised
that the original business case would be considered cabinet-in-confidence to
the previous government.
(2) The state
government submitted an application to the commonwealth government's
national water infrastructure development fund. It did not submit any
information to Infrastructure Australia. Although the federal government
announced during the election campaign that it had approved funding for the
project, we are yet to receive any formal confirmation of this funding from the
newly elected government. We will release the cost–benefit analysis,
with commercially confidential material redacted if necessary, once that
process is complete.