Ministerial Statement

CLAYTON PUBLIC MEETING

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD (Chaffey—Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water Security) (14:01): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: Yesterday a public meeting was held at Clayton to inform community members about the Goolwa Channel water level management project, which is currently under construction at the Lower Lakes. This meeting was chaired by the Hon. Dean Brown, a former premier of South Australia, and the Premier's special drought adviser. Presenters included Jarrod Eaton and Richard Brown (Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation), Peter Scott (Environment Protection Authority) and Piers Brissenden (Department for Environment and Heritage). During the meeting an individual chose to protest by throwing mud at the chair and the presenters.

I rise today to condemn this disgraceful incident, which has done nothing to further the debate in relation to the serious issues we are currently facing in the River Murray system. The Hon. Dean Brown—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD: Thank you, sir. The Hon. Dean Brown has been working tirelessly to help communities around the Lower Lakes and throughout the River Murray corridor in South Australia in these extremely difficult times. He and the other public officers were merely doing their job, informing the community of the reasons behind work currently being undertaken by the state government, when the incident took place.

The Hon. Dean Brown has spent countless hours working with individual community members and community groups to develop solutions to a whole range of drought-induced problems, particularly around the Lower Lakes. He has attended and chaired many meetings in his liaison role, which he does on behalf of the state government.

As minister I am extremely confident in his abilities and incredibly supportive of the contribution he has made in helping South Australians deal with these extremely difficult drought-related issues. The state government considers consultation with drought-affected communities to be of extreme importance, and we have held many meetings—almost too many to count—to ensure that local people are informed on a range of issues and projects.

I assure the house today that the government shares the frustration of communities of the Lower Lakes, but South Australia is not responsible for over-allocation of the Murray-Darling Basin and as a government we are not responsible for the drought. However, the government is responsible for trying to do the best we can with the small amount of water that is available to us.

Community consultation has guided the government's efforts in:

buying water for critical human needs, the environment and critical plantings;

coordinating pipelines around the Lower Lakes to deliver potable and irrigation supplies;

developing temporary moorings for boats and houseboats for those who have been affected by the low water levels; and

providing for emergency dredging of areas of the river to enable continued access to water and continued navigation.

We have been developing emergency solutions to enable the Lower Lakes to remain a fresh water body for as long as is humanely possible and preferably through—until the drought breaks—to a full fresh water recovery, as well as developing a long-term plan for the future management of the Lower Lakes. It is an extremely difficult time, and I implore people who, like the state government, are frustrated with the current circumstances to be a constructive part of managing through the worst drought we have ever experienced.