Murray-Darling Basin Plan

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:32): I rise today to speak about the Four Corners program on Monday 24 July and raise concerns I have about those allegations. Yes, they are allegations. Yes, there were allegations of a senior New South Wales government official helping irrigators undermine the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. Other allegations were harvesting taxpayer-funded environmental water, water theft or meter tampering. These allegations are serious, and if they are deemed to be true then these people need to have the book thrown at them—if not the book, the kitchen sink.

My anger was matched by every Riverland person watching that show. Currently, we have an independent review by Ken Matthews AO. Ken Matthews is the inaugural chair of the National Water Commission. We have an investigation by the New South Wales ICAC. The Australian National Audit Office is doing an investigation. We have the Murray-Darling Basin-wide review brought together by the federal government. The New South Wales Auditor-General will expand his ag department inquiry to the basin plan allegations.

Most water diverters—or irrigators, as they are known—are doing the right thing, but to watch some politicians frenzy feed on this is concerning, particularly if the basin plan is to succeed. This week, we have seen the South Australian Premier and his lame water minister rally the troops together and hold a press conference, minus the South Australian Liberals.

The minister rang the cohorts of irrigators in my electorate: 'Come down and rally against this plan.' They said, 'No, we're more interested in the basin plan being implemented,' so he then rang the next cohort. He rang the Lower Lakes irrigators: 'Come and rally against this water theft.' They came down and there were no Liberals there, and they were very disappointed that they were lied to by a lame water minister who has no interest in the River Murray.

He is only interested in political pointscoring. To see the South Australian Premier do what he has done is just another example. When he first visited the Riverland, elected as the Premier after knifing the then premier Mike Rann, he pledged a 4,000-gigalitre basin plan. He also pledged that no water would come from South Australian irrigators.

To date, almost all South Australia's 183 gigalitres of SDL water is from irrigators and river communities. It is through their hard work and their determination to reform the management of their properties; some of it is through selling their water through bank and financial pressure; some of it is through the love of that river so that they can put water back into the environment. Not one drop of efficiency gains has come from the state government. Not one drop has come from SA Water, and I think it is an absolute disgrace.

The basin plan is progressing. It took more than 100 years for the basin to get into this mess, and it is going to take more than 100 days to fix it. It will take time. The South Australian Liberal Party supports the basin plan in full. We support the 2,750 gigalitres by 2019, and we support the 450 gigalitres of upwater by 2024. We have also already released a water policy. It is about good information and forward projections for irrigators to make informed decisions, particularly in times of water shortages. We support a full inquiry into these allegations, and that is supported by the South Australian Liberal Party.

As the member for Chaffey, I am calling on a national water audit on compliance, as I did in 2009 and 2012, and I am calling on a national audit on water extraction via water meters. That is the front bar nod test of approval. It is about putting everyone in the same category. They all have to be accounted for when it comes to water extraction. South Australia will be the biggest winner with a fully implemented basin plan, but hearing the Premier today telling the South Australian Liberal Party to put their state before the party is an absolute outrage. South Australians must get the water we have fought so hard to secure.

I tell the Premier that he has not fought to secure any water here in South Australia—not one drop—nor has his lame water minister. South Australian irrigators in the Riverland and South Australian irrigators in the Lower Lakes have fought hard to put water back into the environment to be part of the 183 gigalitres that are going back to the basin plan. I continually raise the issues about political grandstanding. This government have no interest in the River Murray: they have interest only in political gain, and it is an outrage that he can stand here today and say that he is fighting for the river.