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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-11-27 Daily Xml
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GOULBURN AND MURRAY VALLEY PIPELINE

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (14:32): My question is to the Premier. Can Victoria withdraw from the intergovernmental agreement, signed on 3 July, if the Sugarloaf pipeline project does not proceed? If that is the case, is this not proof that the states have retained their veto powers?

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:33): That would have to be the dumbest question I have heard or seen in 23 years.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Just think about this: in exchange for a substantial monetary commitment by the federal government, each of the states is handing over its constitutional powers.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: I will explain this and really spell it out for you. There was a Constitution of Australia. That constitution, which was formed when we became our own federation in May 1901, spells out that the states had control over the rivers, and therein lies the problem for the last 100 years because, rather than its being run as one river, it has been run in four parts. So, what the Howard government did (and I will go back over what I said yesterday) was offer $10 billion, some of which was going to go to Western Australia, which I did not really understand because I did not think the River Murray went that far.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for MacKillop will come to order.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: That $10 billion was being offered in exchange for us handing over our powers, through legislation, to the federal government.

Mr Hamilton-Smith interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition will come to order. The Premier.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: The Leader of the Opposition just said that the Howard offer was a phony exercise—and he was right. He was dead right! I am pleased that they are now turning on their former hero, because the fact of the matter is that the Howard offer—and let us go back to that meeting on Melbourne Cup Day 2006 and the two meetings in February 2007—involved us handing over constitutional powers from one group of politicians to another that would be under the influence of the rice and cotton growers upstream.

We could not see the point of that, which is why I fought for an independent commission which, by the way, the South Australian Liberals did not support. They wanted me to sign up to anything because it was John Howard's plan—not one that was in the interests of South Australia. They put their party before their state.

An honourable member: Shame!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Yes; shame. I do not usually respond to interjections, but shame. The fact of the matter is that what Kevin Rudd did was make a massive offer of about $13 billion to the states, and that involves the $610 million that we are spending down around the Lower Lakes and other parts of the River Murray in order to re-engineer the Lower Lakes and so on.

The point of the matter is that what was signed up for with the IGA was that, in exchange for that funding commitment, each of the jurisdictions would hand its powers over to the independent commission, and over to the federal government. However, if your mates in the Senate are trying to abort the deal—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for MacKillop.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —then that means you will prevent, for the next 100 years, an independent commission running the River Murray. What you are trying to do is to abort the deal. If you are successful in that, you will stand condemned—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for MacKillop will come to order.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —by generations of Australians for failing to support the rescue of the River Murray.

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