Murray-Darling Basin Plan

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:36): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Water. Does the minister accept responsibility for the decision to agree to the revised socio-economic criteria and, therefore, responsibility for the delivery of the 450 gigalitres of environmental water to South Australia?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Mawson is warned for a second and final time. The Minister for Environment and Water has the call; I would like to hear the answer.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (14:36): If this royal commission has done anything for South Australia, it has allowed the deputy leader to ask a question in question time, even when there's no-one left on the other side—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Minister, be seated for one moment. The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: Thank you for your protection, Mr Speaker. I 100 per cent take responsibility for making the decision to agree to the socio-economic criteria because we know that that agreement around the socio-economic criteria secured the agreement of all the other states to stay at the table. For the last—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Elizabeth and member for Cheltenham!

Mr Patterson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morphett can leave for 20 minutes under 137A.

The honourable member for Morphett having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: For the last nine months, what we have not had from the opposition is what their alternative is to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, because they don't support the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, which means they do not support—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —the fundamental concept of environmental water. The deputy leader's lack of support for the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is a disgrace.

Dr CLOSE: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: Minister, please be seated. The point of order is for debate?

Dr CLOSE: Debate, misleading and also offensive to me personally.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: Point of order on the point of order.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: The mechanism for accusing another member of misleading the parliament is not the one that was just used.

The SPEAKER: Yes, it is by substantive motion. If the deputy leader wishes to pursue that course, she would have to do it by substantive motion. What I would suggest for the flow of question time is that I would ask the minister to refrain from personal reflections on any member. I am not accusing him that he will, but I would ask him not to entertain personal reflections on any member because what they may do is lead to quarrels and reduce the decorum of the house. If the minister could stick to the substance of the question, I would appreciate it. Minister.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: I think it is important to highlight that the South Australian Labor Party does not support the Murray-Darling Basin Plan as a collective, because they don't. All the evidence shows that.

The SPEAKER: Minister, be seated for one moment. The member for Kaurna has a—

Mr PICTON: Point of order: debate.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: Mr Speaker, I would like to make a comment about—

The SPEAKER: One moment. I will deal with these one at a time.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my left, be quiet. Member for Kaurna, point of order is for?

Mr PICTON: Debate.

The SPEAKER: For debate. Okay, I have the point of order. I will allow some amount of compare and contrast. I understand that members on my left may not agree with what the minister is saying. I am prepared to tolerate it to a level. Minister, you had something to say?

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: Mr Speaker, I do. There is no workplace in Australia that would put up with the sort of commentary that I get from the member for Mawson on a regular basis, the innuendo and the offensive comments, and I think—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my left—

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —that he is unworthy of this place.

The SPEAKER: —and, minister, with all respect, if there is a point of order, if there is something you take offence to, it needs to be raised at that time. I can't take an impromptu speech about what the member for Mawson might or might not be saying—

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell: Oh, so we get a Rolls Royce and he went for a Mazda.

The SPEAKER: I don't need your help. I am trying to assist here. Minister, if there is something that you've taken offence to, I ask you to tell me what it is so I can ask the member to withdraw it; if not, let's get on with it, please.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: I'll get on with it, Mr Speaker. As I was saying, I take full responsibility—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —for all decisions made at the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council on 14 December 2018 and I do so because that has secured water for South Australia. It has secured a pathway to water for South Australia and we've got—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —projects up and down the Murray-Darling Basin and activity occurring like we have never had in recent times, like we have never had since the Murray Darling Basin Plan was established in the mid-2000s. We have secured the agreement of all the jurisdictions who find themselves around the table as part of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. We have kept those states at the table and we have water secured, coming across the border into South Australia—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —to the Coorong, to the Lower Lakes, water that can sustain our agricultural economy, water that can sustain our tourism economy, water that sustains towns like Renmark and Loxton and Waikerie right down through to Goolwa. These towns rely on the survival of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. What I have achieved was an historic agreement and that is what minister Littleproud described it as. It was an historic agreement—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —because it kept everyone at the table. It secured—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: The member for Mawson continues to scream and shout about this—

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell: I haven't said a word.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —but at the end of the day—

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —we have a plan which is delivering water for our environment and the River Murray in South Australia today. We would like it to be healthier, but it is relatively healthy compared to what it would be under a scenario with no Murray-Darling Basin Plan. That is the scenario that the South Australian Labor opposition cleave to see occur.

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Education, my peripheral vision is very good. I call the member for Florey.