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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-10-30 Daily Xml
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MURRAY-DARLING BASIN PLAN

Mrs GERAGHTY (Torrens) (15:13): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier inform the house about the response to his call for South Australian federal members of parliament to support a plan which returns 3,200 billion litres of water to the River Murray and protects our irrigators?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (15:14): You will recall a little earlier I told you that I was writing to all South Australian federal members of parliament asking them to support the basin plan for 3,200 billion litres of water. We had a little glimmer of hope this morning when we saw reports that there was a group of South Australian federal MPs of the Liberal Party who decided that they were going to muscle up to Tony Abbott and tell him that he should look after South Australia. So, I was waiting to see what the outcome would be of that federal caucus meeting, these big strong men out there muscling up to Tony Abbott and actually standing up for South Australia. Apparently, it has all gone to water. It has all—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Apparently there was a little squeak made by Mr Ramsey from out at deep fine leg; he managed to say a few words—

The Hon. I.F. Evans: Deep fine leg?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —and he was there—

The Hon. I.F. Evans: That's the Eyre Peninsula is it—deep fine leg?

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: He is way up there, that's right; but the locals—

The Hon. I.F. Evans: Love the regions, don't you?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I do love the regions, and I say—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —go up to the Riverland; they love me, and they are not too enamoured with the local member.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: And they are not too enamoured with the local member, let me tell you. Madam Speaker, I met a few—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Madam Speaker, I met some fine young men, some fine young irrigators; they look like great candidates to me. They look like great candidates for an upcoming state election. But, Madam Speaker, when we did pose the question to the member for Sturt, all he could come back with was not an answer to the question, 'Do you support the plan for 3,200 extra gigalitres of water?'—he just came back with abuse. So, they will do everything—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: They will do everything they can, Madam Speaker, to duck the question—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It is a pretty simple proposition: if every federal Liberal MP votes for this plan, it passes the parliament. It is as simple as that. What we are asking them to do is to stand up for South Australia—

The Hon. J.R. Rau: Shoulder to shoulder.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Shoulder to shoulder with the rest of South Australia. It is not too late to get on board. It is not too late to get on board. Even Mitch can climb aboard; there is room in the cart for Mitch. Well, there is on this issue—

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: Not if it's a Mazda!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: That's right; well Mazdas are fine, but we actually aren't settling for settling for second best in relation to this river; we are prepared—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —to fight to make sure we have a healthy river, and those opposite—

Mr Whetstone: You are gutless!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Oh, gutless? Gutless; is that right? Here's the—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: This is the member for Chaffey, who would have sold out the river on day one—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —calling me gutless.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr MARSHALL: Point of order: the Premier, although wanting to tell us all that everybody loves him—

The SPEAKER: No—

Mr MARSHALL: —which is completely delusional—

The SPEAKER: Thank you—

Mr MARSHALL: —is now attacking the member for Chaffey.

The SPEAKER: Sit down! Member for Norwood, sit down! Somebody called him gutless from the other side of the chamber. I am not sure whether it is parliamentary language or not. He can respond to it.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Madam Speaker, on this side of the house, we have stood steadfast with the rest of the South Australian community in fighting for a healthy river.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Point of order, Madam Speaker: the Deputy Leader of the Opposition takes points of order then sits down and immediately interjects. It is out of order. Having assumed a lofty position, he should behave a little better.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Thank you. Deputy Leader of the Opposition, order! Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I think this issue does demonstrate a difference in approach. The difference in approach is that we tried to unify South Australians behind what is probably one of the most important issues facing our state, and those opposite have sought to spread the disunity they find within their own party into the broader community, setting irrigator against environmentalist—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Madam Speaker, the question was very specifically about the response from federal South Australian MPs, and I ask that you bring the Premier back to answering that question.

The SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Stuart. Premier, you have 13 seconds left.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and I conclude on this note: they have not only an obligation but a duty to approach their federal Liberal colleagues and demand that they support the 3,200 gigalitre plan to restore this river to health.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Leader of the Opposition, order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: That is what they have an obligation to do, and they should not be allowed to shirk their responsibilities.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

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