Barossa Valley

Mr KNOLL (Schubert) (15:36): I rise to talk about a very important topic in my electorate, that being water. Water is a subject that in most regional communities sparks a lot of debate and a lot of interest. To the Barossa Valley, and Eden Valley particularly, water is a very hot topic. We know that the Barossa is the most recognised Australian wine region in the world. In fact, it is the fifth most recognised wine region globally. It has a phenomenal reputation of producing the world's best shiraz and a phenomenal reputation of producing wines of high quality that stand up against the best of what the old world has to offer.

Water has been a prime part of how the Barossa has been able to grow and cement that reputation. Over 20 years ago, a group of growers in the southern end of the Barossa, the likes of Eddie Schild and Grant Burge and others, got together to build a pipeline to deliver Murray water through to the Warren Reservoir and then up into the Barossa Valley floor. That act and that very difficult process that was undertaken, at that time under the auspices of then Premier John Olsen, helped to bring new, clean, high-quality water to the Barossa that helped to augment ground supplies that were starting to become more saline.

That decision, and that investment at that time more than anything else, has helped to grow the beautiful Barossa's world-renowned wine region. In this place, I know that my predecessor and I have often spoken about the benefits of Barossa Infrastructure Limited (BIL). But we are in a situation now where the Barossa has reached its limit. BIL, as a scheme, has expanded and built new dams and is now supplying some 11 gigalitres worth of water into the Barossa. But it can do little more in that space.

We have had a situation in the last two years in Eden Valley where severe lack of rainfall has led to some dire and drastic situations occurring in Eden Valley where grape growers are having to collect water from standpipes from places like Mount Pleasant to help keep rootstock alive and to keep some of the world's most famous vineyards alive, vineyards like Hill of Grace. We know that, as our climate changes, getting shiraz from Eden Valley is going to become more important. It is why I am so proud to be part of a government that is looking to invest in improving water supplies to the Barossa Valley and Eden Valley. I speak about bringing water from the Northern Adelaide Irrigation Scheme across to the Barossa Valley.

In February this year, I was lucky enough as a local MP, together with the then Minister for Primary Industries, to announce that the government was putting in $800,000 to help to bring this project to fruition. Over the past six months or so we have seen a lot of work done in the community to help tease out what the issues of bringing this water to the Barossa would be. I want to thank the community for their involvement. There were a number of workshops that happened across a number of months to help build the issues and options paper that has now been put together, and participating in those forums has helped to give me a greater understanding of just how important this project is and just how much good can come from it.

I want to thank James March from the Barossa Grape and Wine Association (BGWA), as well as Linda Bowes, a former chair of BGWA, who has been contracted to help engage with the community, as well as Encader Consulting, which is undertaking the work around this issues and options paper. I am very pleased and have been briefed regularly and often from both the Minister for Water's area as well as the Minister for Primary Industries about how this project is progressing, and it is fantastic to see that this is a very high priority for the government and one that is progressing quickly.

Can I say that the benefits of this project would be that in the Barossa we can create more consistent yields and delivery of volume of product to our customers. The worst thing is to build a market as a wine marketer and then not to have product to sell into that market. Bringing NAIS water to the Barossa and the Eden Valley will help to solve that.

Creating climate independent water we know is becoming more and more important, and again having NAIS water to the Barossa and the Eden Valley is a 100 per cent climate independent source that will help to augment the fluctuating supplies that come from the Murray as well as from other groundwater sources. It will help to improve profitability and investment in the Barossa and Eden Valley regions, and it will also help to improve the environmental stewardship that exists at the moment by providing more support and more water that helps us to be able to improve environmental flows.

This is an important project for our community. It is one that the Marshall Liberal government is committed to. It is one that is the highest priority for me as the local MP and one that I look forward to seeing progress over the coming months.