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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
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Parliamentary Committees

NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE: MURRAY-DARLING BASIN WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (16:08): I move:

That the report of the committee, on Water Resource Management in the Murray Darling Basin: Volume 3—Postscript, be noted.

This postscript report is the fifth report of the Natural Resources Committee on water resource management in the Murray-Darling Basin since the committee first started taking evidence on the topic in November 2007.

The Natural Resources Committee recommended in its fourth report, tabled in March 2012, that additional hydrological modelling should be undertaken to determine the viability of removing some of the operational constraints that prevent greater quantities of water being made available to the River Murray and South Australia.

The Hon. Jay Weatherill MP established a Premier's task force in November 2011 to coordinate South Australia's response to the draft Murray-Darling Basin plan. The Natural Resources Committee's role was independent of this task force.

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority undertook additional modelling of the likely benefits to the river system from both higher volumes and higher flow rates during 2012. Federal minister Tony Burke released the results of the modelling on 9 October 2012. Four scenarios were modelled, returning 2,800 and 3,200 gigalitres per year to the river, with unchanged operational constraints, and returned 2,800 and 3,200 gigalitres, together with relaxed operational constraints. The modelling showed that by relaxing constraints in the system better environmental outcomes could be achieved for the Lower Lakes, Coorong and Murray Mouth. There are also some benefits to the Riverland-Chowilla Floodplain.

The Premier, the Hon. Jay Weatherill, moved a motion in the House of Assembly on 1 November 2012 supporting the adoption of the basin plan. The Premier emphasised salt export through the mouth, reduced dredging and maintaining water in the Lower Lakes to avoid acidification and riverbank collapse. The Premier's motion was carried on 27 November 2012 after extended debate in the house.

On 22 November 2012, federal water minister, the Hon. Tony Burke MP, signed the basin plan into law. The plan provides for the return of 2,750 gigalitres to the basin, with an additional 450 gigalitres to be delivered by 2024, giving a total of 3,200 gigalitres per year. On 26 October, the Prime Minister had already announced that $1.77 billion would be spent over 10 years to secure additional water through on-farm efficiency measures.

I note that a number of decades ago, irrigators in South Australia spent their own money and took on the job of improving their infrastructure to prevent leakage and the like. It is just a shame that their interstate counterparts did not follow suit and are now relying on taxpayers' money to do that job for them. On 7 February 2013, the federal water minister announced that the Water Amendment (Water for the Environment Special Account) Bill had been passed through parliament, securing the additional 450 gigalitres of water and its associated $1.77 billion in funding.

The adoption of the basin plan is great news, although the delayed targets are disappointing. We can only hope that another major drought does not occur before the extra water begins to flow. We need to recognise that as well as Adelaide, almost every town and region in the state as far west as Ceduna remains dependent on a healthy river for its water supply. Committee member and member for Frome, Mr Geoff Brock MP, is always quick to remind us that cities like Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Whyalla would cease to exist without a reliable water source, and at the present time the Murray is the only source.

South Australia will need to stick to its guns on the need for additional water, because Victoria and New South Wales have said they will oppose the proposed 3,200 gigalitres per year water return in the basin plan. It is easy to forget the dire situation the basin faced in 2010 before the drought broke. We do not want to ever experience a return to such conditions. The downside to the proposal is that some riverside shacks in South Australia will be exposed to a high risk of flooding. This is something we need to be aware of and plan for, bearing in mind that in the past shack areas were regularly flooded and it is only in more recent times that this has not occurred.

I wish to thank all those who gave their time to assist the committee with its report. The committee heard evidence from two witnesses from the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources as well as reviewing documentation provided by the department on the Murray-Darling Basin Authority modelling and the South Australian scientific review of the modelling. I commend the members of the committee: presiding member the Hon. Steph Key MP, Mr Geoff Brock MP, Mrs Robyn Geraghty MP, Mr Lee Odenwalder MP, Mr Don Pegler MP, Mr Dan van Holst Pellekaan MP, the Hon. Robert Brokenshire MLC, the Hon. John Dawkins MLC, and former committee member and great contributor to the inquiry, the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars MLC, for their significant contributions to this report.

All members have worked cooperatively on this report, as they always seem to do on this committee. They do work well together and there are some very good outcomes that arise from the reports. I would like to thank the committee—

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: It is a well-chaired committee.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: It is; always has been since I have known it. The Hon. John Dawkins MLC and all members have worked cooperatively on this report. Finally, I thank the committee staff for their assistance. They do a great job, and without them a report of such calibre would be very difficult to deliver. I commend the report to the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins.

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