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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-10-26 Daily Xml
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MURRAY-DARLING BASIN PLAN

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:34): My grievance is directed to the Premier, the Minister for the River Murray, in fact every member of this house today, and even every South Australian. The Murray-Darling Basin Plan will affect every South Australian, not just the food producing irrigators and the river communities which rely on the River Murray. The 'Guide to the proposed Basin Plan' is supposed to be an important step in changing how the Murray-Darling Basin is to be managed, but from South Australia's perspective, very little has changed.

Through consultation meetings in Renmark and Adelaide, and Murray Bridge today, South Australia is still not being recognised for its efficiency gains, its compliance with the cap and its equity in infrastructure investment over the last 40 years. The Murray-Darling Basin Authority's community information sessions at Renmark and in Adelaide were packed out. I want to relay a point raised by an irrigator at the morning session in Renmark: many people remember what they were doing in 1969 when man landed on the moon; in Renmark, they were putting pipes underground, and this was one of the first steps in South Australia's irrigation modernisation program.

Efficiency is measured at the point at which water is extracted from the river system. In this regard, South Australian irrigation is the most efficient in the basin. We know how much water is being used, when it is being used and how it is being used. This is because there is accurate metering at the point of extraction and at the farm gate. Water savings at the infrastructure level cannot be made in South Australia, and that is evidenced by the fact that only a fraction of the federal government's money intended for upgrading the efficiency of South Australia's irrigation infrastructure has been taken up.

Why has this efficiency been ignored by the authority and the federal government? The authority argues that it was confined by the Water Act, but this excuse is as facile as its responses to the same question in Renmark. Why are South Australia's efficiencies not being held up as a model for emulation by those who argue the Murray-Darling system must be saved at any cost? The authority and the federal government must go back to the drawing board.

More water must be returned to the basin's environmental assets and the river must be made healthy again, but let's get some balance into this solution. The way to do this is to look where water can be saved for the environmental flows without compromising South Australia's water users. There are massive savings to be made instead of proposing divisive and crippling diversion limits.

The authority and the federal government must undertake a thorough audit of the basin to explore these potential savings. Some of those would be: water users can only manage what they can meter (there needs to be equity right across the basin); address the investment delivery systems and make them efficient; and undertake large water infrastructure savings, as well as those small infrastructure projects. There is currently no balance in the 'Guide to the proposed Basin Plan'.

My final message to the Premier is that the river communities are united, contrary to his ministerial statement today. South Australia must have a united message to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. In saying that, it has been evident over the last four consultation meetings in South Australia that we lead by example—something that the authority continues to ignore. South Australia is not being given any consideration. They are high-security water users, unlike many of their Eastern States counterparts. It is not a blame game; it is all about saving the basin and getting back into health, with the balance of keeping food production and the river communities that rely so heavily on the Murray-Darling Basin's water security.

It is time that every South Australian, including the Rann government, made a clear point that we are an example right across the Murray-Darling Basin. To date, this government continues to ignore the achievements of every South Australian water user, irrigator and community. Today, I ask not only the Premier but every member of this government to relay the message that South Australia has led by example.

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