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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-12-01 Daily Xml
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WATER TRADING

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (15:13): My question is for the Premier. Why did the Premier sign the intergovernmental agreement at the COAG meeting on 3 July 2008 if he believed that the agreement was so detrimental to South Australia that he now seeks to challenge it in the High Court? On Thursday 3 July, following the COAG meeting, the Premier issued a press release, which said amongst other things:

This is a stunning result for South Australia and a victory for the environment. In addition, a significant agreement was reached today for the states to work towards lifting the trading cap on water between regions along the Murray Darling Basin from 4 to 6 per cent by the end of 2009, with a view to the complete removal of the trading cap by 2014.

Why did you sign it, Premier?

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) (15:14): I will tell you why I signed the deal: to get a deal. We signed to get $10 billion used for the refurbishment of the River Murray, a whole series of projects. We also had to—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: No; we also wanted to get the buyback, which was more than $3 billion. What we wanted to do was to get every single state on board—because the Howard government couldn't do it, Malcolm Turnbull couldn't do it—to hand over key constitutional powers over the River Murray to an independent commission that would set a basin-wide cap. And, what's more, we got about 85 per cent of the way there, a darned sight better than had ever been achieved before in this nation's history. Just remember, when I raised the issue of the River Murray at the National Press Club, the former Howard government would not allow the River Murray to be discussed at COAG. So, we had to put in the hard yards. We had to make sure that Queensland, New South Wales and the commonwealth came on board, but—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: That's right—the buyback scheme that Howard could not achieve. But there was still one missing part of the jigsaw and, rather than cave in, as you asked us to do to Howard—and there would have been no regard for us in terms of what you asked us to agree to—we went out and did the hard yards of negotiation. This is the last piece of the jigsaw, and that is why we are taking them to court.

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