FARM WATER STORAGE

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (14:55): By way of supplementary question, will the minister advise the house, given his answers, why the department did not simply go out, as it did with groundwater extraction, and sit down with the farmers and actually ask them what were the volumes, given that the minister has already said that the farmers would know? Why were not the farmers just consulted one on one?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:55): It comes down to the fact that there are somewhere between 13,000 and 20,000 dams in the area about which we are talking, depending on what part of the ranges you are talking about. It is just impossible, in a short space of time—

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire: You did it for bores.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: How many bores are there, Mr Brokenshire, compared with 20,000 dams? That is the reason. The resources required have meant that we need to use a different process.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Maher.

Members interjecting: