RIVERLAND

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (15:07): Will the Minister for Regional Development inform the house what the government is doing to help communities in the Riverland deal with structural changes required by irrigated industries due to lesser water availability and lower commodity prices?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I cannot hear the minister.

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN (Napier—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for the Northern Suburbs) (15:07): I thank the member for Little Para for the opportunity to outline the range of measures that the state government has put in place to assist the Riverland community.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: Yes. That community, as the member for Chaffey can well indicate, is under significant stress. I think that at least the member for Chaffey would like to hear the answer. In October 2008, as a result of the Riverland experiencing drought and decreasing water allocations and low commodity prices for its core industries (that is, wine and grape), we have a 20 per cent over-production in the nation at this point, and it is particularly impacting in areas such as the Riverland in irrigation-based communities.

In the face of drought and decreasing water allocation and a difficulty selling their core products, the state government established the Riverland Futures Task Force. This task force was tasked with the role of creating a future for that community and to avoid what was staring that community in the face, which was a decline in population and a collapse in underlying asset values.

Some six weeks ago, the Hon. Mr Robert Brokenshire, through a freedom of information request, was able to ascertain that there had been a significant fall in underlying asset values in real estate in the Riverland that had actually commenced occurring. So we were trying to prevent population loss, a collapse in underlying asset values and maintain the level of economic activity within that community. Over the last three years the federal government and the state government have injected $200 million into that community, largely through drought relief. Once that is withdrawn—and that is imminent—we are concerned that there will be a collapse in retail sales and the like.

This task force was established to deal with those fundamental issues. I was the inaugural chair. It was made up of the three councils in the area, the Economic Development Board and the NRM board. Over the last 18 months it has put considerable work into establishing a future for that community. The state government has injected $400,000 to underwrite a very rigorous examination of the economy of the Riverland as it currently stands and the possibilities that exist for that particular community.

The prospectus was launched on Friday. The member for Chaffey was there, the previous member for Chaffey was there, and it was well received by the South Australian Riverland community. I spent a week in the previous fortnight travelling along the Murray Valley from Mildura to Albury, meeting with irrigation-based communities along the river. This state is the only state that has undertaken the necessary work to protect our irrigation-based communities. No other community in either New South Wales or Victoria has undertaken this work, so we are in front of the game. We are in a position to secure significant finance from the federal government. The state government has—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: Vickie, could you just let me finish?

Members interjecting:

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: Yes, silly man.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: The state government has underwritten this exercise with $20 million over four years. We expect to attract an additional 7,000 people over the next 20 years, which will ensure the population integrity of the Riverland. We expect, over that period, to attract, I think, nearly $400 million in additional investment. The objectives are to maintain population and population growth in the Riverland with that which is occurring elsewhere in the state, and similarly with the level of economic activity. I believe that the state government has put in place a proposition which will retain the viability—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: Yes, it's all very funny. You may have seen the Cotton CRC report that indicates that if we take 50 per cent of water out of irrigation communities in the Murray-Darling Basin there will be a 25 per cent slump in population in the Murray-Darling Basin. These are serious issues, and I would expect the opposition, being rurally-based, to take it a little more seriously.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!