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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-09-06 Daily Xml
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MURRAY-DARLING BASIN PLAN

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (16:40): The Premier's ministerial statement about the Murray-Darling Basin plan is an admission of the government's complete failure to make South Australia's voice heard in a debate that is vital to the future of this state. This is an admission the Premier's so-called Fight for the Murray campaign is a waste of taxpayers' dollars. It is a 'Fight for Jay Weatherill' campaign. There can only be one reason for this campaign, and that is to get votes for Jay Weatherill. It is a smokescreen for failure.

I quote from the notice of disagreement by South Australia's member on the Murray-Darling Basin ministerial council under section 43A of the Water Act 2007 on 9 July 2012:

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) has yet to fully address the 71 recommendations provided by the South Australian Government in its submission to the MDBA on the draft Basin Plan.

There has been little change from the draft Basin Plan (28 November 2011 version) on most of the matters outlined in the South Australian submission.

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority must consider and address the remaining South Australian Government recommendations…

In another section the minister says:

The Basin Plan sustainable diversion limits which deliver a proposed water recovery target of 2750 GL fail to meet key environmental outcomes…and meet the requirements of the Water Act 2007.

The authority's response in August is utterly dismissive:

The Authority is satisfied that the proposed Basin Plan complies with the Water Act.

This is another admission of the government's failure. The authority obviously is not listening to this government. The government cannot even get its facts straight with its Labor colleagues in Canberra. I quote from the federal environment minister's statement on 28 August 2012 in reference to the latest version of the basin plan:

This latest agreed document gets us closer still to a genuine consensus position to reform of the Murray-Darling Basin.

Yet today we have heard the Premier say there are unresolved matters on which he will not compromise. The federal environment minister obviously is not listening to this government either. The authority said on that same day that:

any suggestions or directions about further changes can only come from the Commonwealth minister.

So why is this government wasting $2 million of South Australian taxpayers' money on a campaign that is preaching to the converted here in South Australia? The Premier and his River Murray minister should be camped outside Tony Burke's office, not appealing to the obvious political campaign and preaching to the converted.

Despite this blatant vote-grabbing exercise, I appreciate this government is working in what it perceives to be the state's best interests. That is what the other basin states are doing as well. This government has failed because it did not present the other states, the authority or the commonwealth with a solution-based approach to water reform. All this government wanted was a number based on science that is untested against the social, economic and environmental realities of the Murray-Darling Basin. It is a number; it is not a solution.

A solution lies with obtaining the water needed for the environment without compromising food production, the economic activity it generates, and the regional communities which rely on it. This is a solution the Liberal Party has been advocating from day one. This government did not listen, because it does not want meaningful, balanced water reform in the basin. It wants to derail water reform with a challenge in the High Court that is very likely to fail and will certainly cost the state many more millions of dollars, not putting one more drop back into the river.

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