Schubert Electorate

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (15:27): I rise to talk about two really important issues that are impacting my local community, and arguably none more so than water security in the region of the Barossa Valley, but I will touch on that in more detail in a moment. I have been out and about meeting with a number of local businesses and people around the southern Barossa area and water pressure is a big concern for them. When they are turning on their shower or they are trying to water their garden, they notice that they cannot do two of those things concurrently. I have been in communication with the Minister for Water about this issue, hoping that we can come to some type of solution.

The other issue I want to touch on in the house is one that the member for Finniss actually raised publicly last week and that is in relation to the challenges that people are having in carting water around my local community. We have a situation where households in my local community, and in fact right across the state, are unable to have water for cooking, for drinking, for watering their plants because the demand for watering trucks around the state is so high that they are unable to keep up with the requests that they are getting to deliver water.

Obviously, there are homes and properties across my community that do not have access to mains water, and there are many. My city colleagues might take for granted the fact it is so easy just to turn on your tap and know it is coming from your mains water. There are people in my local community who rely primarily and solely on rainwater. When it does not rain, your tanks do not fill up and you cannot do these basic things that many people take for granted.

On carting water, I would just like to reflect on an experience that I had growing up, and that is that we often had to cart water to my local home. Our neighbours had to cart water. We were very frugal growing up. We had shower timers. We used to put the plug in the bottom of the shower and get it out onto the garden where possible. The fact that so many people in my area are still doing that now I think is really concerning. Obviously we are in a dry climate, but it begs the question as to at what point the government intervenes and provides this support so that families and households have water.

It is not just households, of course, who are feeling the brunt of these water challenges. There are families and people who are living on the land who have been crying out for a water security solution for the Barossa and Eden Valley for quite some time now. Discussions about the need for this have been ongoing. We have had survey after survey, reports, conferences and meetings, and unfortunately we are really no closer to delivering a water security solution for the people of the Barossa and Eden Valley.

This is critical because, whilst the government and the bureaucracy might be looking at all of these reports and reviews, my community is literally going dry. Our farmers and their vineyards are going dry, and that is something that concerns me for their long-term sustainable future. Water security and a long-term solution for my region is so desperately needed. It does not matter who I am speaking with, whether it is the big guys like Treasury Wine Estates or the small family vignerons in my community, particularly in Eden Valley, we need to find a solution for them.

There have been so many reviews done over a number of years, and it is actually just time to put something in place for them because it is critical to secure our long-term future. It was in November 2022 that the Barossa Water Security Strategy, which was an initiative of the former Liberal government, was published and the $5 million business case for new water infrastructure in the Barossa Valley was also completed. Consultation for the Barossa Water Allocation Plan was due to commence early last year, but it has been delayed until this year.

Whilst the government and bureaucrats tweak these documents, our primary producers, our farmers, our growers are literally drying up. It is time for rubber to hit the road and for the government to take some action to implement a long-term water security solution for the Barossa Valley. It is critical to secure our future for our region, and I am looking forward to continuing to bring this to light in this place for the people of my community.

I would also just like to wish everyone all the best for the Angaston Show, which is on in my community this Saturday. There are so many volunteers who are required to bring our country shows to fruition. I am looking forward to it, and I thank in advance all of the volunteers who work so hard for the people of my community.