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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-05-12 Daily Xml
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FLOODPLAIN HARVESTING

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:11): My question again is to the Minister for Water Security. Has the government made a submission to the New South Wales government on its draft floodplain harvesting policy; and, if so, will the minister table that submission?

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water) (15:11): As I understand it—and I know that the honourable member raised that issue, I think, when I was on the radio one morning—the question specifically is about how you measure the flood waters on floodplains, which I understand is a very difficult thing to do, but it should not be insurmountable.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: I will ignore the interjection, again, of the former deputy leader. It is an interesting thing, isn't it, because you have got a one in four or a one in three chance of becoming a deputy leader on the other side, save and except—

Mr WILLIAMS: Madam Speaker, point of order.

The SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order. The deputy leader.

Mr WILLIAMS: The minister was almost about to answer the question, but he got sidetracked. Perhaps you could call him back.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I will call the minister back to the question.

The Hon. P. CAICA: Thank you very much, ma'am. I apologise for being so poor in my performance as to respond to interjections, which, of course, are disorderly. Getting back to the substance of the question. As I understand it, New South Wales, around 2008, was directed to look at ways by which it could measure the interception of water on floodplains. At that stage New South Wales had nothing in place. It is safe to say that it has not got much more in place today except the fact that it is, as I understand it at this point, being undertaken in the form of an honour system, which, of course, is better than having nothing, but is it still—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: You should let me finish. Is it still as good as it should be? I would say that the answer is no. It is something that needs to be taken up by the authority to make sure that, even though it is difficult, practices should be put in place that, as far as possible, can measure that interception on floodplains. In regard to the specifics of the question: have I contacted my colleague on this specific matter? Not at this time, but I do understand, and I will correct the record if it is not the case, that dialogue is occurring at official levels on this matter.

Of course, that dialogue will better inform the response of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority which is required to deal with this matter. Again, I thank the deputy leader for his question.

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