House of Assembly Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1) 54 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Murray-Darling Basin Plan Murray-Darling Basin Plan Dr CLOSE House of Assembly Port Adelaide Deputy Leader of the Opposition Murray-Darling Basin Plan Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:14): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Water. Did anyone advise the minister that he should update his submission to the Productivity Commission so that it was operating with full knowledge of the SA government's position? With your leave and that of the house, I will explain. Leave granted. Dr CLOSE House of Assembly Dr CLOSE: The final report of the Productivity Commission's five-year assessment of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan states, inaccurately as it now turns out: The Government of South Australia argued the legal requirement of voluntary participation in efficiency measures should be retained, as it does not inhibit projects being delivered on time and in budget to deliver the 450 GL. The Hon. R. Sanderson House of Assembly The Hon. R. Sanderson: But you delivered none. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Minister for Child Protection! The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Member for West Torrens! The Hon. A. Piccolo House of Assembly The Hon. A. Piccolo: The Productivity Commission got it wrong now, did they? The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for Light is warned. The Minister for Environment and Water has the call. The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS House of Assembly Black Minister for Environment and Water The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (14:15): These matters were all public. There was nothing hidden here. Our submission to the Productivity Commission was made public. Our submission to the royal commission was made public. Of course, we never heard anything, not a word— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS House of Assembly The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —at any stage along the way—not a word. They didn't provide any information on their time in government. They didn't— Mr Malinauskas House of Assembly Mr Malinauskas: You changed the submission. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Leader! The Hon. S.S. Marshall House of Assembly The Hon. S.S. Marshall: We made it public. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Premier! The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS House of Assembly The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: The submissions were public. The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS House of Assembly The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir: this is debate. The minister is talking about the opposition— The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: What is the point of order? The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS House of Assembly The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Debate, sir. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The point of order is for debate. I will allow the minister some preamble, but then I do expect him to return to the substance of the question. In the minister's defence, there is a cacophony of noise, as there has been for the last couple of answers— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: —I haven't finished—on both sides. I ask for that to please cease. The minister has the call. I will be listening very carefully. Minister. The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS House of Assembly The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: All this material was already in the public domain and when the negotiations between myself, Victoria, New South Wales, the federal government, the ACT and Queensland were delivered and we reached consensus, the pathway to water, on 14 December 2018, this was put out publicly as well. In fact, I stood at a press conference in Melbourne alongside ministers of multiple political persuasions and we announced that this decision had been reached, that this position had been reached. Did we hear anything from Labor that day? Nothing. There was nothing because— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS House of Assembly The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —their eye was completely off the ball and no more so than the deputy leader's, whose full outrage arrived at the time of the royal commission's— The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Minister, there is a point of order. The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS House of Assembly The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: again, sir, debating the question. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: There is a point of order for debate. There was a fair bit in the question. The interjections have continued, despite me asking for them to stop, and I will have to deal with them very, very shortly. Minister, please return to the substance. You have finished? The minister has concluded his answer.