WATER RESOURCES

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (15:03): I ask the Premier: has he written to Prime Minister Rudd in the same terms that he wrote to former prime minister Howard regarding the need for guaranteeing future water supplies to South Australia and Victoria's opposition to the Howard government's National Water Initiative? The Premier wrote to Prime Minister Howard regarding those issues in January 2007, August 2007 and November 2007.

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 have written to both sides and, in fact, I have spoken to both sides of the new federal government and the previous federal Liberal government. My position is identical. My position is that there needs to be an independent commission to run the River Murray (including making the hard decisions) rather than having one authority and one commission and then various other hybrid arrangements. We believe that the authority concept and the commission should, in fact, be one; and I understand that is the view of the federal government.

The honourable member would be aware if he followed events that the recent meetings between Penny Wong and the Victorian government have again reported further progress in terms of an amalgamation of the authority and the commission. My position right from the start was that we supported a federal takeover of the River Murray provided that an independent commission made the decisions and not another group of politicians. I have been extraordinarily consistent on that, whether I have been dealing with John Howard or Kevin Rudd, and I think that is patently clear to all South Australians.