Water Allocation

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (15:01): Supplementary: the minister might need to take this on notice, but can he guarantee to the chamber that none of that water that was sold has actually been used by upstream cotton and rice growers?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (15:01): Again, the Hon. Michelle Lensink, from the free marketeer party over here, doesn't seem to understand how water markets work. You sell into a market, like a share market, and you have people who buy water on that open market. Often you will have a broker, like Waterfind, who operates in this state in a fantastic capacity to such an extent that, in fact, they are launching their enterprise overseas. I understand they are opening offices around the world, particularly in California. That's how it works. You don't actually control—in most instances, if you are using a broker, for example—who might be buying your water. You sell into a market, and someone who wants to buy water from that market buys it. That's how it works.