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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-03-07 Daily Xml
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LAKE EYRE BASIN

The Hon. M. PARNELL (15:06): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation a question regarding the Lake Eyre Basin.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M. PARNELL: A fortnight ago, about 100 graziers, Indigenous people, scientists and policy experts attended a three-day conference at Longreach in outback Queensland to discuss the future of the world's last great desert river system, the Lake Eyre Basin. Following the conference, the delegates sent a communiqué urging Queensland Premier Campbell Newman, South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill, and federal environment minister Tony Burke to work together to prevent 'the disaster of the Murray-Darling river system being repeated' through the opening up of the Lake Eyre Basin system to irrigation and mining.

On 27 February, the Australian Senate passed the following motion moved by Greens' Senator Sarah Hanson-Young:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that South Australia's iconic Lake Eyre is dependent on water flows from the Cooper, Diamantina and Georgina rivers, which are under threat from the Queensland Government's proposal to repeal legislation that currently protects them;

(b) opposes the repealing of the Wild Rivers legislation by the Queensland government; and

(c) urges South Australian Premier, Mr Weatherill, to act promptly to work with the Federal Government to protect the Lake Eyre Basin from the proposal of the Premier of Queensland, Mr Newman.

According to reports by the ABC, South Australian environment minister, the Hon. Ian Hunter, said in response that he will speak to Queensland 'if and when the time comes'. My questions are:

1. Does the minister oppose moves by the Queensland government to open up iconic desert rivers feeding Lake Eyre to irrigation and mining?

2. Why is the minister waiting for a formal proposal to emerge before he engages in this issue rather than the proactive approach urged by participants in the Lake Eyre Basin Under the Spotlight conference?

3. Has the minister, or members of his staff, had any discussions yet with his Queensland or federal ministerial equivalents about these issues?

4. Have there been any discussions between officers from the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources and its Queensland or federal equivalents and, if so, what message was sent about South Australia's position?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:09): I thank the honourable member for his most important questions. There is some excitement around this issue; I recognise that. It is important that we engage with this issue in a fairly considered way. One needs not to jump at shadows, in some respects.

I accept some of the things the honourable member said in his summary remarks, but we need to understand what it is that Queensland is proposing, what are the internal politics of this matter in Queensland, and how we can best influence an outcome that suits us in South Australia. In my view, to do those things, you do not have a knee-jerk response to a press release or something you see in the media; you need to have a considered plan.

For some background, currently the Wild Rivers Act in Queensland provides considerable protection from both mining and irrigation to the Georgina and Diamantina river systems, as well as the Cooper Creek Basin. These protections were put in place by the previous Labor government, but the current Newman government has indicated its intention to remove these protections. The proposals would see the Queensland government amend the Cooper Creek and Georgina and Diamantina wild rivers declarations in relation to petroleum and gas activities, I am advised. The Queensland government has established a Western Rivers Advisory Panel to provide feedback on reforms to the former Queensland government's wild rivers declarations.

The advisory panel has been asked, I am advised, to give consideration to resource projects and small-scale irrigation in the region and is due to report back to the Queensland minister this month. Any changes to the wild rivers declarations which have the potential to impact on the amount of water flowing into our state are of course of great concern to the government. I have written to the Queensland minister for natural resources and mines and the minister for environment and heritage protection requesting information on the proposed changes.

The allocation of water that can be taken from the wild rivers area is governed by the Queensland water resource plans. The Queensland government has not indicated as yet an intention to amend these plans. South Australia and Queensland are both signatories to the Lake Eyre Basin Intergovernmental Agreement, signed in the year 2000, I believe. As such, South Australia should be consulted prior to the Queensland government changing its policy with respect to the Lake Eyre Basin. That is our expectation. The Queensland government's recent announcements have created some uncertainty, and the state will be seeking further information on how the proposals affect South Australia.

It is not only this government which has concerns about the Queensland government's plans. I am very pleased to note that the federal environment minister, Hon. Tony Burke, has commented that he is alarmed by the willingness of the Newman government to disregard the environment in every decision and has said that he is looking at all his options. I encourage him to look at those options very seriously.

Additionally, the federal National Party member for Maranoa, Mr Bruce Scott, has also said that the plan would be 'over the dead bodies of an awful lot of people'. I understand also that the Liberal member for Stuart, Mr Dan van Holst Pellekaan, has already stated that he is completely opposed to any irrigation upstream on any of these rivers. As I have stated, I have written to the Queensland ministers expressing my concerns. I will work to ensure there is no reduction in the quantity or quality of the water that flows into our state. I am greatly heartened by the support we are receiving in this across the political divide and across the country, and I will be working together with all like-minded people to see that the outcome does not cause harm to the iconic Lake Eyre Basin.

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