Ministerial Statement

MURRAY-DARLING BASIN PLAN

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:04): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Earlier this year, the house acknowledged the central role that the River Murray plays in the lives of all South Australians as a driver of economic activity, as a great place for recreation and family activity, as a treasured environment and as a place with special meaning for Aboriginal people. The house also noted the fragile and degraded state of the river as a result of decades of overuse of the waters of the Murray-Darling Basin despite the efficiency of our state's irrigators and the restraint of our urban water users.

Achieving a Murray-Darling Basin plan that returns the river to a sustainable level of health and recognises our respect for the river system is paramount. Since the draft plan was released in November last year, this is what we have been working towards. We have stuck scrupulously to the science in arriving at our position, getting our scientific analysis of the draft basin plan independently reviewed.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: We have met with community leaders and representatives from environmental groups and the Minister for Water and the River Murray, and I have also visited river communities several times to discuss the draft plan. We made a comprehensive submission to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority detailing 71 recommendations that will enable the draft plan to achieve its objective of a healthy river system. We have continued to pursue this objective through the campaign to allow community members to have their voices heard as part of this national debate, and we have endeavoured to reach consensus through ministerial council discussions.

But with the final basin plan imminent, it is important that we make it clear that there are unresolved matters on which we cannot compromise. These are:

1. Returning a volume of water to the Murray-Darling Basin sufficient, based on the best available science, to meet key environmental outcomes in South Australia and across the basin—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —with key constraints removed to assist in the delivery of this water, which we already know from the science is more than the proposed 2,750 gigalitres.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL:

2. Keeping the Murray Mouth open so that two million tonnes of salt that accumulates in the Murray each year can be flushed from the system.

3. Securing salinity and water level targets that protect the Coorong and Lower Lakes wetland site—

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Chaffey, order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —and the river channel.

4. Providing river flows that help to protect and restore River Murray flood plains, such as Chowilla.

5. Recognising South Australia's responsible water use in determining where and how the water needed for the river will be recovered.

6. Investing in strengthening regional communities so that the basin reforms help drive value-adding and diversification opportunities.

This six-point plan to save the river will inform our approach to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, the federal water minister and, if necessary, the courts.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!