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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-12-01 Daily Xml
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MURRAY-DARLING BASIN PLAN

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:39): My question is again to the Premier. How can South Australians be expected to work together responding to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan when South Australian federal Labor MPs are not in support of a High Court challenge on the plan as proposed by the Premier and when the Premier is clearly not in support of the plan as proposed by federal Labor?

The Premier told the media on Monday, 'There is a strong basis for a united SA position on the plan' yet, immediately upon the release of the draft plan, he flagged challenging the federal Labor government in the High Court and insisted that a minimum of 4,000 gigalitres was the only acceptable amount.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:40): There are so many of the recited facts there that are inaccurate, but can I just perhaps—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: No, I didn't. What I said is that I would not rule out a challenge to the High Court. If you read the ministerial statement, we assert our rights assertively. If we do not have a plan which is adequate, we will pursue our legal rights. I have set out in the—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Bragg, you are warned for the second time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —ministerial statement the basis—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —for our claim, the basis for our constitutional claim, that is, that we as a state are one of a series of equals—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —and we have rights in relation to inter-boundary rivers. That is the nature of the claim that we will be making, and it fits precisely with what we have always said about the nature of our rights in relation to other states, not merely in relation to the commonwealth, but in relation to other states. We believe that the commonwealth has an obligation in relation to protecting those rights and we believe that other states have an obligation to respect our rights. That is the nature of our claim. Can I say this fundamentally: while I am a member of the Labor Party, the Premier of South Australia, I will always put South Australia first.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

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