House of Assembly Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2) 51 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Federal Election FEDERAL ELECTION Mr WILLIAMS House of Assembly MacKillop FEDERAL ELECTION Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (15:03): My question is to the Premier. Now that the federal Liberal government has committed to pay for half the cost of a desalination plant for Adelaide (which your government says will cost $1.4 billion) and federal Labor has stated that it will contribute no more than $100 million towards such a project in South Australia, will you be urging South Australians to vote for the federal coalition on Saturday so that water restrictions might be lifted in Adelaide? The Hon. M.D. RANN House of Assembly Ramsay Premier Minister for Economic Development Minister for Social Inclusion Minister for the Arts Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change FEDERAL ELECTION The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (15:04): I am happy to answer this question, because there is a mention of 'a possibility', 'might' and 'if' in Turnbull's announcement (and we understand he is concerned about his own seat). I am glad the member has asked me this question because we have tallied up the firm commitments. We remember the $10 billion water plan from John Howard. Not one single cent has been spent on the River Murray. However, during the election campaign, and before, we have counted up federal Labor and federal Liberal commitments and, so far, on my tally, it is a $260 million commitment from federal Labor and a $10 million commitment from John Howard—or, really, I guess it is from Mr Costello. Let me just say one final thing. Members opposite have introduced the federal campaign into this parliament. Remember this: if people think that Mr Costello is arrogant now, just imagine what he would be like if he were Prime Minister. One of the contestants for the prime ministership, Kevin Rudd, has a plan for Australia; the other has a retirement plan to put in Peter Costello—and that is the difference.