Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-02-11 Daily Xml

Contents

Save the River Murray Fund

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (14:29): My questions are to the Minister for Water and the River Murray and are on the subject of the Save the River Murray Fund. My questions to the minister are:

1. On what basis has the $2 billion a year fund been transferred to Regions SA, given that the Water Industry Act states that these funds must be used on River Murray-related projects?

2. Is this $2 billion no longer required in the River Murray portfolio?

3. Which minister makes the final decisions about expenditure of the Save the River Murray Fund?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (14:30): Excellent questions from the excellent shadow minister; I thank her very much for that—only that it's about 12 to 14 months late. These machinery-in-government changes were made when the fund and the deliberations around that funding were to be transferred to minister Brock, I think it was, from memory. But, as I understand it, my responsibilities remained and that final approval for funding agreements would come through my office for my signature.