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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-06-26 Daily Xml
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IRRIGATION AUSTRALIA

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (15:25): My question is to the Premier. Premier, what were the key issues that you raised at the Irrigation Australia 2012 conference?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (15:25): I thank the honourable member for this important question. Earlier today I opened Irrigation Australia's 7th Asian Regional Conference at the Adelaide Convention Centre. It was a very large gathering of irrigation interests from around the nation and overseas. The conference provided an opportunity for us to communicate to upstream irrigation interests exactly why South Australians are fighting for the River Murray, why we are campaigning to take this fight beyond the borders of our own state.

It was a chance to tell a broader community the story of our irrigators. Many people would be unaware of the way in which we have pursued this issue and the way in which we have respected this river over the decades, so it was an opportunity to tell them about that and the catastrophic effects that the depletion of the waters by the upstream states have had on our state.

Many would not have been aware that it was South Australian taxpayers and our own irrigators who used their own money to invest in the best irrigation practices that are now in place here. They would not be aware that 40 years ago we capped our take from the river. They are not aware of the fact that it is only 1 per cent of the waters of the river that are taken. They would not be aware that it is only 1 per cent of the waters of the rivers that are taken, that are taken for Adelaide and the surrounding districts. It is important that we take every opportunity to tell this story.

Many would also be surprised to learn that just this week we are still experiencing the effects of the overallocation in the drought with the EPA using lime slurry to tamp down the effects of acid sulfate soils leaching the acidified material back into the stream. That is happening this week, two years after all of the rains that we have seen.

Our campaign, of course, is growing in momentum. Just today we announced that people like Victorian environment educator and Prime Minister's Environmentalist of the Year for 2007, Arron Wood, has joined as a river champion. South Australian businessman Brett Charlesworth—many of you would be aware of his iconic brand for South Australia—has joined our campaign as a river champion. They will assist us in getting our message out to the broader community.

For those who seek to sell out our position by saying that somehow the current plan is a good start, my message to them is this: every time there have been questions raised about this river over the last 100 years, what has been applied is a bandaid solution that shuts out discussion and then the river continues to deteriorate. The poor compromises are over, just as the—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —Deputy Leader of the Opposition reminded us—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —earlier when he first saw the plan, he said that we would be dudded. He was right then. I do not know what has changed his mind now, but we need to pursue most vigorously this campaign to make sure we get a healthy river on behalf of all South Australians.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Can I just remind members and ministers that, because of the microphone situation here, it will be harder for Hansard to hear us. I have already been told to make sure that I have my microphone in front of me. Can you make sure that the microphone is pointed at you and that you are facing the microphone.

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