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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-02-07 Daily Xml
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MURRAY RIVER

Mrs GERAGHTY (Torrens) (14:44): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier inform the house about the latest win for South Australia in returning water to deliver a healthy River Murray?

The SPEAKER: I detect some comment in that question. The Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:44): Today marks the achievement of another crucial milestone in our fight to secure a healthy River Murray. Earlier today, the federal parliament passed an important piece of legislation securing $1.77 billion in funding to ensure the River Murray receives enough water to remain healthy.

This is an extraordinary achievement for South Australia. This piece of legislation would not have existed but for South Australia's fight. We led the fight to ensure the Murray-Darling Basin plan provided 3,200 gigalitres of water that scientists verified was needed for the river's long-term health. Of this funding, $1.57 billion will secure an extra 450 gigalitres above the 2,750 outlined in the draft plan.

The additional water is critical to ensure that two million tonnes of salt are exported out of the Murray Mouth each year to keep salinity in the Lower Lakes and the Coorong below the dangerous thresholds for the survival of native plants and animals. It will also keep water levels in the Lower Lakes at a level to avoid acidification and riverbank collapse below Lock 1, and improve the ability of flood plains to support healthy red gum forests and water bird and fish breeding. The additional 450 gigalitres will be recovered through water recovery projects and works throughout the Murray-Darling Basin. Importantly, it will be done—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: No, that was removed.

An honourable member: Up to.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: No, that's wrong. You are working on old time. Importantly, it was done in a way that minimises the impact on communities through projects such as improving the efficiency of on-farm use. There has been $200 million set aside to address key constraints that currently limit the amount of water that can flow down the river. Remember their first argument? 'We can't give you any extra water because there are natural constraints that won't let us bring it down.' We have shown that that's wrong.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order: I believe the Premier is entering into debate when he says, 'Remember their first argument?'

The SPEAKER: I am not sure what he means by the pronoun 'they'. We will find out as the answer continues.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: 'They' referred to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and the upstream interests. It might be consciousness of guilt, but it certainly wasn't directed at those opposite. So, $200 million has been set aside to address key constraints which currently limit the amount of water that can flow down the river. The South Australian government called for the Australian government to listen to the scientists, to listen to what they were saying about what we needed for a healthy river, and they have responded. We have worked hard to ensure that South Australia's voice was heard in Canberra. I want to pay particular tribute to the role that the former minister, the member for Colton, played in uniting—

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Premier, will you be seated for a minute? I call the member for Hammond to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: What he managed to do was unite the river communities, irrigators and environmentalists, city and country, farmers, irrigators, environmentalists and water users of the river, up and down the length of the river. It was a difficult task. It's fair to say that some of the places we went to are not known for their particular affinity to our political party. In fact, I can recount many anecdotes of people slapping me on the back and saying what a fantastic job we had done and also quickly adding that they would never vote for me.

But can I say that this was an extraordinary act of unity by the South Australian community. We know what effect it had on the federal opposition. We had that extraordinary proposition where the federal MPs all managed to place pressure then on Tony Abbott to get him to not oppose this legislation in the federal parliament. I can say that, unless we had united as a state, that pressure would not have been applied.

They were so proud of themselves they put a half-page ad in the paper afterwards claiming the credit for it, but I am happy for everybody to join in and take credit. Of course, victory has many authors; failure is an orphan, but we have been victorious on this occasion.

The SPEAKER: On that note, the Premier's time has expired. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition.

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