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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2007-10-23 Daily Xml
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WATER RESOURCES

Mr VENNING (Schubert) (15:26): In relation to what the member for Stuart has raised, and about which the member for Light has just been on his feet, for the record, I believe that the member for Wakefield is as honest, competent and diligent as any member of parliament I have ever known—and I have known plenty in my time. He is an honourable gentleman and he is a nice bloke. The scurrilous campaign against him is dishonest, misleading and in bad taste. If the member for Light has had anything at all to do with it (whether he has or has not), he should say so. He has now had the opportunity whilst on his feet to respond to accusations made earlier by the member for Stuart. He did not pick it up, so I presume by his silence that he is involved with it. I think it is disgusting. Today I want to raise the topic of the water crisis There is no more rhetoric: I believe that the day of reckoning has arrived—

Mr PICCOLO: I rise on a point of order, Mr Speaker. If the member for Schubert has any evidence to suggest that I have done anything improper, he should table it. If he is trying to smear me, as he has done in the past, perhaps he should try another approach.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr O'Brien): The member for Light will have an opportunity at a later time, if he feels that he has been misrepresented. The member for Schubert can continue.

Mr VENNING: I am the last person in this house to smear people, but the member has had the opportunity in this house to say his part, and did he did not do so. All I can say is that I operate in a clean —

Mr PICCOLO: Sir, I have another point of order. As you have just indicated, I will have an opportunity later. This is not question time, which I have to respond to.

The ACTING SPEAKER: I suggest that the member for Schubert desist from further attacks on the member for Light. He has made his point. If the member for Light wants to respond at a later time and clarify the situation, he can. I ask the member for Schubert to make no further reference to the activities of the member for Light.

Mr VENNING: South Australia is on the brink of a water crisis. No more rhetoric: the day of reckoning has arrived. This drought and the subsequent water crisis could have had as large an impact on South Australia as the State Bank. We are in the early stages of South Australia's worst water crisis in history. We have known about the potential risks of this happening for about six years. We have known that we were entering a period where all the signs were showing. We have been entering this period now for 18 months, and still we have no decisions. We are only a few days away from the first day of summer—a summer which will probably cause much hardship in our state.

What will it be like in February/ March 2008, with 44º and 45º days? The demand on water will be extreme. The shallow waters of the Murray will warm, and blue-green algae will flourish. We may have to either stop pumping the Murray or, worse, keep pumping it, but warn people not to drink it. Our reservoirs are 65 per cent full, but how long will it last when people panic? People will fill their rainwater tanks with their hose. And still this government has not even made a decision about whether it is a desalination plant or a weir or both. No decision has been made, even, to buy some off-the-shelf portable units.

Even with the Prime Minister's offer yesterday of $10 million to assist with feasibility studies and to help pay for the desalination plant, there is still no action. I would be more than happy for us to build a desalination plant and then not need it. That would be a good result. It would be there for the next time, and it will happen even if it rains tomorrow. In the last hour we have received five inches of rain near Crystal Brook, and that is a flood. It is rather ironic that I am making this speech about a drought when we are seeing floods. Irrespective of whether or not we are blessed with rain, we must address the problem.

The Minister for Infrastructure recently told this house what the government has done—we met, we talked, we made a decision, we made a new minister, we agreed with the federal intervention, etc.—on and on. What has it physically done to ward off this almost certain crisis? Nothing! The member for Fisher made a speech last Thursday morning in this house and I think that the points he made were totally the opposite. We now have no choice but to provide emergency measures for water. The time for prevarication and rhetoric has gone. We now have to put the state into urgency mode to do what we can as quickly as we can. We have 120 days before we hit the wall—that is 1 March.

To say this issue is above politics is correct—yes, it is—but when a government is totally inept and bereft of any ideas or ability, we are here as Her Majesty's Opposition—it is our duty; it would not be responsible to do otherwise—to say how it is and to warn our people. We have put down our 19-point plan. We have a plan to do all we can to save our River Murray irrigators, especially our state's citrus trees. We can do much.

What has the government done in relation to saving water in homes and government offices? Oh, that is right! Last week, the Premier and the water security minister announced a $24 million package of water-saving incentives. At long last, South Australians will be able to enjoy the same incentives to save water as their interstate counterparts have done for a while. In fact, our Premier was the last of the Murray-Darling Basin state premiers to recognise the need to provide water incentive rebates—we should have been the first. However, these incentives will still not be available for some weeks.

We appreciate that the state Labor government has at last introduced incentives, but is too little too late. Why did the Rann government not do it 12 months ago? A huge amount of water could have been saved if the state government banned the use of single-flush toilets, after allowing a few weeks to enable people to upgrade. In an average home, with one occupant, on average, the toilet will get flushed between six and seven times a day—that is 200 litres a day.

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