Murray-Darling Basin Plan

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:51): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Water. In agreeing to the revised socio-economic criteria, did the minister receive any commitment from the New South Wales and Victorian governments not to abandon the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and their obligations in it to provide environmental water to South Australia?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:51): I would be keen to—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Sorry, the Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I would be keen to answer this because—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader is warned. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I would like to answer this question because I was the one who wrote to the Prime Minister when we received the reports in January. There were two reports we received in January: the Australian Productivity Commission report—

Dr Close interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Deputy leader, I ask you to cease interjecting. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Just listen to the answer.

The SPEAKER: I'm trying to.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Two reports were received in January this year. There was the Australian Productivity Commission report and the royal commission report done by Bret Walker SC into the Murray-Darling Basin. They were both received. I wrote to the Prime Minister immediately, asking him to convene the first ministers of all the basin jurisdictions: Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, ourselves of course and the commonwealth. That wasn't possible before New South Wales went into caretaker mode and then soon thereafter the commonwealth went into caretaker mode, but it was convened in August of this year.

In fact, in a single week, there were two very important meetings held with regard to these documents. One was the water ministers' meeting, which I think was held on 4 August or thereabouts, and then there was the meeting that was held with all of the first ministers: the Premier of Queensland, the Premier of New South Wales, the Premier of Victoria, Chief Minister Barr and the Prime Minister. This was an important meeting. What was resolved at that meeting was that all of the jurisdictions would stay at the table, and this was under—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Wright is warned and called to order for a second time.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: This is and has always been a fragile plan because at any point in time people can get up and leave the table. Some think that the best way to keep people at the table is conversationally swearing at them. We don't think that's the case. We actually think—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Wright can leave for the remainder of question time.

The honourable member for Wright having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: This is a particularly difficult piece of legislation. It was probably 100 years in the making. The 2007 Water Act was actually put in place in the Howard government. It took several years then to negotiate what that Murray-Darling Basin Plan would be, and it is still fragile and people can get up from the table and leave. But let me tell you this: South Australia's interests are best served by keeping every single jurisdiction at the table. This concept—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —which is advanced by those opposite of megaphone diplomacy might get them into the media for a short period of time, but our interests are much greater than the short-term political grab on television, on the radio, in the newspaper.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We are here to protect the health of the River Murray. The entire state depends on the health of the River Murray. It is the backbone of our South Australian economy.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: It supports river communities, jobs, tourism opportunities, and it is nothing unless we protect the health of the River Murray, and that is exactly and precisely what we have done. That is why we worked so hard, and I commend the Minister for Environment and Water, who has worked very hard with every single one of his cabinet colleagues to make sure that we arrived at a position which kept every person at the table. I congratulate him on his outstanding work and leadership.