CLAYTON WEIR

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:28): My question is again to the Minister for Water. Given the minister's statement earlier today that it may soon be possible to partially remove the Clayton weir, what plans does the government have, what trigger points need to be met before it is removed, and what will be the cost to the taxpayer of its removal?

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water) (15:28): I thank the deputy leader for his question. Had he been listening to the ministerial statement, he would have realised that the trigger is information from the Murray-Darling Basin Authority that says that, over a two-year period, the level within the lakes could be maintained at sea level, and that was detailed.

The other point I would make in relation to the floodwaters that are coming down is that it was not so long ago that we had our northern floods and we secured our 400 gigalitres from that. There were people who believed that we were going to have massive amounts of water that would open up the mouth. What we are doing is monitoring the amount of water we are getting, making decisions based on the information that is provided and then confirmed and making those decisions based on real information, and we will continue to do that. In regard to the costs involved, I do not have those details with me at the moment.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: Yes. I will get back to the house on the costs, which, of course, will be dependent upon whether it is a partial or full removal. Our preference is to remove it fully, but we need to do that dependent upon the circumstances.

The deputy leader would also know that the EIS needs to be put in place or provided as to whether or not we keep the regulator there. We have to justify its staying there, and I think Mitch is fully aware of that.

The other point I will make—and this is my final point—is that we know that there are members of the opposition who support not only the work that is being done by this government but also the work done by the commonwealth government prior to the election. I thank the member for Chaffey for his support of our plan and I am very pleased that his body parts remain intact.