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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-11-08 Daily Xml
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MURRAY-DARLING BASIN PLAN

Mr PICCOLO (Light) (14:34): My question, obviously, is to the Premier. Can the Premier please provide an update on the government's recent consultations regarding the proposed Murray-Darling Basin Plan?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:35): Before the end of the month, it is understood that the independent Murray-Darling Basin Authority will release the proposed Murray-Darling Basin Plan for public consultation, and this proposed plan is a further step in this very important process.

The draft plan, it is hoped, will lead to a legally enforceable basin plan that will provide long-term, sustainable, whole-of-basin management of the Murray-Darling Basin. South Australia's position, of course, at the end of the river basin has meant that we have long experienced the worst effects of environmental degradation due to overallocation and state parochialism over the years. That is why South Australia took action in 2008 to remove the basin debate from the competition between states to an independent authority tasked with managing the basin holistically with a plan based on sound science rather than parochial state interests.

As we move towards this final stage, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to reset the rules of the basin to put the basin's resilience on a long-term healthy footing. Over the last two weeks I have had the great pleasure of travelling with my ministerial colleague the minister for water—who rescued me at one point from falling over in front of the cameras.

An honourable member: He pushed you in, Jay!

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: No, no. That hand was a rescue. That was not a shove. And, all right, apart from a few silly photographs, it was a very successful trip. We heard about the impact of low flows, destructive levels of salinity and the degradation of wetlands and flood plains. I also had the opportunity to be invited to two public forums, and the member for Chaffey and the member for Hammond attended those meetings and contributed very constructively to them.

We heard at those forums a range of messages. One consistent message was: rivers die from the mouth up. And, so, maintaining a healthy river involves maintaining a healthy Murray mouth and ensuring that we have the environmental flows that will ensure that the whole of this river is sustained.

Much of the trip highlighted the terrible impacts of poor environmental flows on not only the river but also the communities that relied upon it. What it also revealed was the incredible resilience of the environment once rejuvenated by new water. In a way, what we were able to see were two futures: the future that we saw with the drought; and, then, with the recent floods, we were able to see how it could quickly be rejuvenated when it received the environmental flows that it needed.

We were there in our waders putting in the southern pigmy perch that were grown in captivity and then restored to the river in a much healthier state, and it was wonderful to see that those measures were taken. The emergency measures that we were forced to take really do remind us of how close we came to catastrophe. If I can just refer to a message that was given by one of the women at, I think, the Berri Town Hall forum (the member for Chaffey may recall) on 25 October. I think that her name was Tammy, and she said these words:

I was a kid who grew up on the river. My family and friends derived an income from it. I've been scared by what I've seen in the last couple of years. I'm a grandmother now and I want to be able to pass on this river. If we as a community, as a state, as a country, don't look after the river it will die.

I think that summed up how all the people I met over this period felt. I would like to thank the many people who made my recent trips to the Riverland and to the Lower Murray possible, including the members here and also local government representatives, and I look forward to further discussions on this critical topic.

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