Murray-Darling Basin Plan

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:55): Supplementary: can the minister tell the chamber whether the 62 gigalitres that are due at the end of next week are going to arrive?

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (14:55): What I can tell the chamber is that there is an incredible amount of activity—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —happening in the basin.

The SPEAKER: Minister, be seated for one moment. The member for Cheltenham is warned for a second and final time. If that level of noise continues, members will be departing. The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: There is more activity happening in the basin than ever before because these projects are coming. The Labor Party and their mates said they would never come—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —but they are coming. We have a substantial project which has been announced in the—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is warned for a second and final time.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —ACC, in that jurisdiction. We have those projects—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —out to tender in Victoria. There is work being advanced in New South Wales, and there wasn't a single interstate project being advanced under the Labor government.

Dr Close interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader is warned.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: And the deputy leader doesn't want these projects and the Labor Party don't want these projects because they don't care about the river's health.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: They don't care about the Riverland. I had the opportunity to go up to the Riverland last week with the member for Chaffey, the Minister for Regional Development, and meet—

The SPEAKER: There is a point of order, minister. One moment.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Debate, sir. The question was about whether the water would flow this week.

The SPEAKER: I am going to refer to one of Speaker Atkinson's practices. If a member has severe interjections, it does reduce the standing of members to call points of order. I respectfully ask the tone to quieten down for the last nine minutes of question time; if not, members will be leaving. I have also allowed the minister a fair bit of latitude in his preamble and I ask him to come back to the substance of the question. Thank you.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I think it's very important that we understand, as a house and as a state, the number of projects that are now happening upstream. We will get to the 450; that is my very firm view. Every legal requirement that is required under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan by 1 July 2019 is being progressed and I believe will be attained on time. We will meet all the legal requirements. The milestone of 62 gigalitres of water—

Dr Close interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader is warned for a second and final time.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —is being substantially progressed, and what we are seeing are projects being established, being planned, being designed upstream. Those projects are often based on the great practice that we have seen in South Australia historically, and that is why I wanted to mention the trip that I made up to the Riverland to look at some of these efficiency projects that have not only enabled less water to be used but in some cases has seen expanded economic development and job creation in the Riverland region as well.

The Riverland is a great region to visit. There are great people. There is a high level of innovation, and one of the things that is very interesting when I meet people in the Riverland is their passionate agreement with the deal that was struck—

The SPEAKER: There is a point of order.

Dr CLOSE: Relevance. It was a very narrow question.

The SPEAKER: About the 62 gigalitres? He is talking about water. I will ask the minister to come back to the substance of the question. Minister.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: Mr Speaker, I am providing context as to what these projects are looking like, and we can look at the projects—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —that are in South Australia, and opposition don't give two hoots about our Riverland, clearly, because of the cacophony of noise they are throwing at me while I am trying to explain.

The SPEAKER: There is a point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Standing order 137: personal reflection on members.

The SPEAKER: Yes. I don't think it's 137, but, yes, there may have been a personal reflection. Is the minister finished?

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: Not as individuals, as a substantial class, Mr Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Minister, please wrap up your answer.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: I will wrap up my answer by simply saying that on this side of the house we are backing our irrigators, our fruit producers and our environment; on that side of the house, they are backing politics.