Water Recovery Socio-economic Criteria

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:03): Supplementary: can the minister provide any evidence that the Alexandrina Council or the Coorong council have congratulated him on the decision on the socio-economic criteria?

The SPEAKER: It comes in many forms. Minister.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (15:03): I have an absolutely excellent relationship with those councils. I speak to them regularly. Of course, these councils were very aware that this deal had been struck because they were paying attention on 14 December. There was silence from this side. The games, the gimmicks, the grandstanding—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —only began with the release of the royal commissioner's report. The communities that are going to benefit, the communities whose day-in day-out lifeblood is the River Murray, the Lower Lakes and the Coorong, were paying attention on 14 December 2018. It is these communities that are delighted that there is a pathway towards real water—450 gigalitres of it. It is these communities that will be able to access additional funding for water-saving projects. It is these communities that will benefit from the constraints measures package that was released on 14 December 2018.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: And of course around the Lower Lakes and the Coorong it is these communities that will benefit—

The SPEAKER: The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —from the $70 million of investment.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: They have many times, many times—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Minister, please be seated. Member for Reynell, you can leave for half an hour under 137A. This chitchat across the chamber has to stop.

The honourable member for Reynell having withdrawn from the chamber:

Dr Close interjecting:

The SPEAKER: No, deputy leader, the minister has the call.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I was just winding up by saying that these communities have told me—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —on a number of occasions, on numerous occasions, that they are excited by the opportunities delivered, in particular by the Coorong project, but relieved that this government took the politics out of the River Murray, took the politics out of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, stopped playing the games and started to represent them, started to represent the forgotten regional communities—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —that were completely forgotten by the previous Labor government as they played games with the precious River Murray. We are now a government that governs for all of South Australia and that means ending the games.

Ms COOK: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: There's a point of order, minister. Please be seated.

Ms COOK: I believe it's debate.

The SPEAKER: The question was about evidence of congratulations, from memory.

Ms COOK: Yes. I believe it's debate.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I uphold the point of order. Member for MacKillop has the call.