DESALINATION PLANT

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (15:09): My question, again, is to the Minister for Water and the River Murray. Did the government model the required capacity of Adelaide's desalination plant in the driest years and, if so, will it release this modelling? A Treasury briefing to then treasurer Kevin Foley dated 7 September 2010 reveals that water prices would more than treble due to the government's 100 gigalitre desalination plant.

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:09): Of course, if I just go back a couple of steps to a couple of questions within I think what the Leader of the Opposition is inquiring upon, if we go back a bit, we have got the most—

Mrs Redmond: What was that mumble?

The Hon. P. CAICA: What I am saying is—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: —there are a couple of questions that she asked within—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: Quite simply, Madam Speaker, we were confronted with the most unprecedented drought in anyone's living memory, a drought that scientists tell us—and I know that we have climate change deniers on the other side, that was a glimpse of our future, that is, that we would have more frequent droughts and they would be of higher intensity than we have experienced. The right decision was made by the—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: —government to increase the capacity of the desalination plant, and, of course—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.F. Conlon interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: There is nothing that he doesn't know, Patrick, not a thing. We know that the desalination plant is not only our insurance against those future droughts and those times when there will not be—

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Madam Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order. The member for MacKillop.

Mr WILLIAMS: The minister is debating the answer and he is not being relevant to the question. The question was: did the government model the state's water needs and, if so, will he table the modelling?

The SPEAKER: Thank you, member for MacKillop. No, there is no point of order. Minister, stick to the substance of the question.

The Hon. P. CAICA: Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. And, of course, not only was it and is it our insurance policy against the future, it allows for us to never increase our draw upon the River Murray again in the future with respect to—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: —going cap in hand asking for more water to be drawn from the River Murray. That will be capped with respect to critical human needs, and the desalination plant, Madam Speaker, will of course allow—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P. CAICA: —for the future growth of Adelaide and South Australia. So it was a sound decision when it was made, it is a sound decision now and it will prove to be sound decision in the future when we need that water. Of course, the decision was not taken lightly and it was based on a whole lot of factors.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Port Adelaide.