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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-06-21 Daily Xml
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River Murray Sustainability Program

The Hon. T.R. KENYON (Newland) (14:52): My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. Minister, can you explain how the South Australian River Murray Sustainability Program is saving water and creating jobs?

The SPEAKER: If, indeed, it is. Minister.

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) (14:52): It is indeed saving water and producing more jobs and also some great benefits for the local community. I would like to commend the Premier for the great work he did in making sure that South Australia and particularly those irrigators in the Riverland got more than our fair share. The irrigators up there have been giving up things since the 1960s. They have become the most efficient irrigators anywhere in South Australia and they have done a tremendous job. I was up there last week and I spoke to some of the people—

An honourable member: Did you have a swim?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I went for a swim. It was pretty cold, but not as chilly as the relationship between you and Tony Pasin. I was up there last week and I was talking to some of the people who have been recipients of these grants and they remember the Premier coming up. They said that at first he wasn't armed with much more than the moral high ground in his back pocket and we all got in behind him and we wondered how he was going to do this. But he got the research through the Goyder trust and went to the feds and said, 'This is what South Australian irrigators have given up in the sixties and the seventies, the eighties, the nineties and the 2000s.'

Mr Whetstone: Rubbish, absolute rubbish.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: You don't like it, do you? $265 million being spent in your part of the world and you want to sit there and have an argument about it. Go your hardest. This is one of the biggest investments in any region in South Australia's history and the Premier went in there and fought for it because we remember what the member for MacKillop and others opposite said. They said, 'That's the Rolls Royce. We don't want the Rolls Royce.' You guys wanted the Mazda. I'm telling you that I was up there and I was talking to your constituents last week, who were saying that this has been an incredible boost and it has allowed them to do things they could never have done. I met Richie Roberts from RNR Farms. This money has—

Mr KNOLL: Point of order: I would ask that you check the delivery against the 16 June release.

The SPEAKER: I will have a look.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I am not reading notes here, sir. I am talking off the cuff. This guy, the member for Schubert, is a time waster and I would like some time put back on the clock.

The SPEAKER: The minister will get on with the answer, please.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Thank you very much, sir. Richie Roberts, one of your constituents, at RNR Farms has just put in a covered area where he has planted blueberries with a high-tech hydroponic system and he is saving water. He has netting over the top.

The SPEAKER: It is in the press release.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: This bit you will not find in the press release, sir. Do you know the value of those blueberries? It is $10,000 a tonne.

The SPEAKER: No, I didn't know that.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: That's not in there—$10,000 a tonne. Do you know the value of the orange trees that he ripped out of there before? It was $250 a tonne. That's not in the media release, but that is a massive improvement. We then met with the Wursts, who are pistachio growers near Waikerie. They are taking out vines and putting in more pistachio trees. When I was in India two years ago, the Indian almond and pistachio importers said they would buy every almond and every pistachio we could possibly sell them. This is a growing world market and it is great to see people in the Riverland getting on board, using this money wisely, creating more jobs and really making sure that an economy that suffered so badly during the drought is thriving now and into the future.

The SPEAKER: Is the point of order that the minister's time has expired?

Mr GARDNER: No, I am seeking the call to ask a question, sir.

The SPEAKER: I guess it's your turn.

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