Water Licences

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:24): Supplementary: will the minister concede that there is a difference in the way this is treated between the two states, and that South Australian dairy farmers, in particular dairy farmers at the moment, are at a disadvantage compared to their Victorian counterparts by virtue of the fact of there being a broader and different set of rules applied either side of that border?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (14:24): From long experience in this place and particularly of the Hon. Mr Ridgway's questions, I don't concede anything on the basis of what he says. He usually comes in here ill informed. He usually comes in here with wrong information.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink: Just abuse him.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: I am not abusing anybody. I am just stating simple facts from my long experience in this place and dealing with questions from Mr Ridgway. It is not his fault that he doesn't have the right information, I'm sure. I am sure he is a very busy man and doesn't have the time to do the amount of research that is required and I don't blame him at all for being misinformed.

The Hon. G.E. Gago: He is lazy.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: It may well be. The Hon. Gail Gago has another view about that. I don't necessarily share it, but of course we are all entitled to our views and she has even longer experience of answering questions from the Hon. Mr Ridgway. She is not shy of sharing those views with any of us who like to take the time to talk to her about it. I am not being abusive; I am just stating the facts. The Hon. Mr Ridgway often comes in here with ill-informed commentary and wrong information and then proceeds to demand of government ministers that we make a decision or give him an answer on the basis of information that he provides. Again, it is information that he provides from agencies not under my control, so of course I am not going to give any such assurance to him. I will first go back and have his so-called facts checked.