MURRAY-DARLING BASIN

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (16:26): I direct my question again to the Premier—and I might get an answer from the Premier. Premier, how do you reconcile the establishment of a ministerial council on the Murray-Darling Basin with your statement of 25 January 2007, when you said that you wanted to see 'a truly independent Murray-Darling Commission, free of any politics or politicians, whether it is federal or state'?

The memorandum of understanding signed by the Premier establishes a ministerial council that will decide on natural resource management programs, the Living Murray initiative, state water shares and River Murray operations. The ministerial council will also consider and agree on the basin plan and will provide advice to the commonwealth minister with whom decision-making powers reside.

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) (16:27): I got some advice about this beforehand. First of all, we were told triumphantly the day before (with glee and a degree of anger mixed up together) that there was to be no mention of the River Murray and that it was not to be on the agenda the following day. In fact, I thought that this guy must have the inside running. There I was, meeting in a car park at 11 o'clock at night, and there I was in the Prime Minister's hotel room at 7.15 in the morning. Guess what?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: He said that what he would do was get him in a headlock; earlier on, it was going to be banging on people's desks and everything else. Can I just say that being a premier means being a grown-up. Basically, it is about negotiating—not abuse, because abuse backs people into a corner.

What did we want to achieve? When the former prime minister, John Howard, announced that he wanted to take over the River Murray (and, by the way, he said to leave Victoria to him; he would sort out Victoria), what we insisted upon, and what I went around the country to negotiate, was for an independent commission to make the decisions, such as on a cap.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: No; you are wrong.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: No—what it is about is that the central decisions of making the cap, and a whole range of other things, reside with an independent commission. Of course, then we said, 'Okay; you've got to report to a federal minister,' and that was always part of it. But if that federal minister goes against the advice—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —of the independent commission, the federal minister would be required to go into parliament and explain why they were going against the decisions of the independent expert; in other words, it would be politically humiliating for the federal minister to do so. I do not care what the advisory councils do. The key point is: we wanted to end the fact that for years the veto powers of the states had resulted in the lowest common denominator.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Members opposite do not understand what happens so I will tell them. The memorandum of understanding agreed at COAG between the commonwealth and the Murray-Darling Basin jurisdictions represents a significant historic advance in the management of the River Murray. An independent authority will be responsible for the developing, implementing and monitoring of a basin plan involving a cap on surface and groundwater diversions—there never has been that in terms of groundwater diversions—and the provision of critical human water needs and sustainable industry and enhanced environmental outcomes.

The commonwealth minister will be the decision maker on the plan but, ultimately, if the minister refuses to adopt the basin plan, the minister must report to the parliament advising reasons for refusal and making directions to the authority for modification of the plan. The Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council will have an advisory role with respect to the basin plan. The council's other functions will be confined to managing the resource under the basin plan and consistent with the plan.

I saw some reports from misguided journalists who said that this was an extra $1 billion to the $10 billion. Well, in fact, it is part of the $10 billion. People say, 'Why are you spending money in Victoria?' Well, it's gravity, stupid. If we have the money spent in New South Wales and Victoria, in order to try to ensure the pipes do not leak and to reduce the amount of evaporation, it frees up water to come down the river to South Australia. It is not about headlocks: it is about hard work. It is not about abuse and banging on tables: it is about getting a result. It is the difference between making yourself feel good and actually achieving good.