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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-09-22 Daily Xml
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Water Infrastructure

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (14:58): My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. Minister, can you outline to the house the effect of the federal leadership change and cabinet reshuffle on the South Australian agricultural sector, with particular regard to water infrastructure?

Members interjecting:

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Recreation and Sport, Minister for Racing) (14:58): Barnaby's a ripper. We like Barnaby. I would like to begin by congratulating the Premier on the important role he played in the leadership change in Canberra last week, because here is a person who will stick up for South Australia and go into bat, and rest assured that many of those changes that have been made to the federal line-up are due to our Premier and the hard line that he has taken in the past 18 months.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: He has been there. When you guys were happy with the status quo, you were happy with prime minister Abbott telling us we couldn't have this and we couldn't have that, it was our Premier who stood up to Canberra—

The SPEAKER: Point of order, member for Finniss. Minister, point of order.

Mr PENGILLY: Relevance, sir.

The SPEAKER: I am sorry, I was distracted by a staffer who persists in allowing his guests to do flash photography after he was told not to. I was distracted. The minister.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I was just congratulating the Premier on the important role that he played in the historic changes that happened in Canberra last week because here is a man who stands up for South Australia. Here is a man who was not happy with the enemies within the Liberal Party here in South Australia who were sitting around the cabinet table dealing us out of everything that could create jobs and economic growth in this state.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order: I am sure, now that you are not distracted, that you will agree that the minister's answer is not relevant to the question.

The SPEAKER: Minister.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Congratulations, Premier, on that role that you have played. I welcome all of those new members of cabinet who have now seen the error of their ways over the past 18 months in being disenchanted with the fact that the people of South Australia re-elected a Labor government with our friends, the member for Frome and also the member for Waite.

Now that the federal Liberal government has seen that this is a government that will stand up for South Australia and a government that will take on the views of many and is willing to work with all sides of politics for the betterment of this state for jobs and for economic growth, we are looking forward to another 12 months of a renewed vigour and new thought process from those people in Canberra.

I would like to congratulate Anne Ruston on being welcomed into the ministry in her role as assistant minister to the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources. Anne and I have a fantastic relationship. She is someone from the Riverland who takes the Murray-Darling Basin system very seriously, and we know we have a good advocate there.

I want to thank Barnaby Joyce for the tremendous work that we have been able to do together across agriculture in the past 18 months, and I think the two of them will work very well. Barnaby's view on water is that he likes to put the big hat on, start the D9 up, and as long as there are no frogs and lizards in the way—and if there are, don't say anything about them—dig big dams, preferably in the north of the country.

Mr WHETSTONE: Point of order: debate. The Minister for Agriculture does not own a bulldozer and does not get on bulldozers to push frogs out of the way.

The SPEAKER: What appeared to be a valid point of order became a bogus point of order with the addition of an impromptu speech.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I have actually sat around the table with Barnaby a few times and get on very well with him and I know what his views are on D9s and frogs. I think it is great that we have Anne Ruston and Barnaby Joyce working together because we have some special projects here in this state, including the extension of the Bolivar network. We have been pushing for it for 18 months with Barnaby and he says he will try and unlock the water.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I will show you all the letters, deputy leader. We have been fighting for 18 months. The Northern Adelaide Plains wastewater re-use project, at a cost of $170 million, could dramatically expand horticulture production. Unlocking the Bolivar treatment plant could provide an additional 20 gigalitres of reclaimed water, creating an additional 3,600 hectares of predominantly new horticulture together with intensive livestock. That is a great story for the people in the northern suburbs of Adelaide because we know, when we look at the past 17 years, food manufacturing is the area of manufacturing that has grown year on year.

We also want to do the northern dams upgrade in the Clare Valley. There are three dams up there that are full of water that are not connected to anything anymore. If we can unlock that water and use it on the lands that have been wiped out by fire in the past few years—

The SPEAKER: Alas, the minister's time has expired.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Mr Speaker, my time was taken up by a lot of interjections from across the chamber. These are very important projects for the member for Stuart and others opposite.

The SPEAKER: The minister is called to order.

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