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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-05-12 Daily Xml
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OLYMPIC DAM

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (14:58): My question is to the Minister for Water Security. Why did SA Water request BHP Billiton, as a part of its EIS process, to look at a proposal to extract water from the River Murray? The following is stated on page 77 of Volume 1 of the EIS for the Olympic Dam expansion, 'The extraction of water from the River Murray was assessed at the request of SA Water.'

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Federal/State Relations) (14:59): I will answer the question because I am the minister in the lower house responsible for the BHP negotiations through our steering committee, headed by eminent South Australian and Chair of our Economic Development Board, Mr Bruce Carter.

Mr Williams: It was SA Water that asked them to do it.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Yes, okay, and I am going to give you an answer.

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: She's the only chirpy Liberal, isn't she?

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: She is, isn't she? Why would that be? Marty doesn't look chirpy.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Pardon?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: BHP had a number of options for water, one of which was sourcing water from the River Murray.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Kenyon interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for Newland!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: SA Water, as a commercial entity, likes to sell water. No surprise about that. It may well have been of the view that it could sell water to BHP Billiton using the Murray. We made it clear, as the government that is in charge of policy—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I beg your pardon?

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for MacKillop has already been warned once.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I beg your pardon?

Mr Williams: I said you don't know the answer to the question.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I am just giving it to you.

Mr Williams: You are making it up.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Mr Speaker, the member just said that I am making up the answer. By inference he says that I am misleading the house. He either apologises and withdraws or he moves a substantive motion.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for MacKillop has already been warned for interjecting. The minister is giving a very straightforward reply to the question and should be heard in silence and should not have to deal with interjections, either from opposition benches or from government benches. The Treasurer.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: BHP had three options. One was the Murray, one was further extraction from the Great Artesian Basin and the third was desalination. We made it clear, and the Premier did in meetings with Chip Goodyear, I certainly made it clear in meetings with a number of senior BHP executives, and I am certain, but I stand to be corrected, that we also made it clear in discussions with Marius Kloppers who, of course, succeeded Chip Goodyear, that extraction from the Murray would not be permitted by the government.

There were some issues about the basin that it had some capacity to provide some water but would not be able to provide all of the water for that particular—I mean, I am being accused of not answering the question. He is not even listening to what I am saying. I have just answered it. I have answered it that SA Water—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: No; I have answered it, that is, that we ruled out, as a government, the policy option of extraction from the Murray. We were upfront about it.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: SA Water is a publicly owned corporation. SA Water is in the business of selling water.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: You know nothing about the operations of a publicly owned corporation.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Sorry?

Mr Williams: SA Water asked them to look at the options.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Yes, and we ruled it out.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: The member for MacKillop does not understand, and I guess no member opposite does because they have not been in government, but—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: SA Water is a publicly owned corporation. It is in the business of selling water, and it may well have thought that it had the capacity to provide water via the Murray. We had a view, as a government that makes policy which SA Water will implement, that we would not allow the Murray to be the source of that water and that they would have to look at desalination as the only option, and they agreed to that. Now, I cannot be any more upfront, honest and open than that. We ruled it out, they went to desal and we are glad that they did.

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