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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-06-22 Daily Xml
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Water Allocation

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (15:08): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for the River Murray questions about water allocation to irrigators.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: In the last few weeks the minister made an announcement that high security water allocations to irrigators along the River Murray would be reduced from what they hope is a 100 per cent allocation to a 36 per cent allocation.

A similar announcement was made by a former minister, the Hon. Paul Caica. In a given year a few years ago the minister made an announcement that there would be even less than 36 per cent allocation. As a result of that, many irrigators went to their banks and purchased temporary water. Less than a couple of months after that announcement, the Premier made an announcement that there would be an additional increase in water allocations.

I am advised that irrigators, based on the minister's announcement, have been to their banks and have purchased temporary water in this financial year so that they can have carryover water to get through what is an unacceptable allocation at this point in time. I am also advised that many of these irrigators are very stressed as they approach a season not knowing whether they are going to be able to get the production opportunities and requirements for financial cash flow.

I would ask the minister to actually answer these three questions. My first question to the minister is: has the minister left water allocation up his sleeve, and has he announced a 36 per cent water allocation based on an absolute worst-case scenario? Has that assessment of that allocation worked on a scenario that there would be no inflow into the water system of the Murray-Darling Basin for this next irrigation season?

Secondly, can the minister advise the house whether his department has told him that that is already flawed because there are already inflows into that system? The third and final question is: is the minister prepared to comment on or agree with irrigation trust authorities in the Riverland that are telling some irrigators, I am advised, that they could end up with as much as total allocation for this irrigation season? I ask for an answer to those three questions, not diatribe from a briefing note.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (15:11): I thank the honourable member for his stupid question. He is worried about getting diatribe from a briefing note. You are going to get better information from a briefing note than you will ever get from his questions and his explanation. What an embarrassment this man is to this chamber.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: Stop being so arrogant. That's the hallmark of this government: arrogance.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: He does not even understand the first basic—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: Right from the very top. It's happening in South Australia right now: arrogance.

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Those opposite do not give a damn either. The honourable member, in asking this question, should at least do the very basic research into what allocations mean. He has shown by his question that he has no clue, not a single clue. I will have to try to break it down to very simple things for the honourable member to understand.

The first thing is this: this is the first year we have given early opening allocations. Historically, our allocations are issued in June. But the industry itself, the irrigation community, came to the government and said, 'We think it would be beneficial for us if you give us early allocations like they do in Victoria.' That is exactly what we have done. But it is incumbent on the Hon. Mr Brokenshire and others to understand what that means.

When you give opening allocations, you give them based on the previous several months of inflows into the system. If you are giving early opening allocations, in April, you are basing that on what has been coming into the system in the previous three months, which, surprise surprise, is summertime. The usual allocations in June are based on what comes into the system through the autumn and winter rains. That is why there is a difference.

Early opening allocations will always, generally speaking, be lower than what the opening allocations will be in June. That is the first thing the Hon. Mr Brokenshire needs to try to understand. This is what the Victorian irrigators have been living with for a long time. They understand it, the irrigator trusts understand it and the irrigators themselves understand it. The Hon. Mr Brokenshire clearly has not got the first clue. So let me take it back to first premises for him. As I have previously said in this house, the outlook—

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: He's going to sleep?

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire: No, I am listening to your nonsense.

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire: I want answers to my questions, not a lecture from a failed schoolteacher.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: I don't know who you're referring to—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: You're the worst water minister we've ever had.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: I am not sure who you are referring to in that respect, Mr Brokenshire, but it is better to be a failed schoolteacher—at least you have some achievements teaching children—than a failed Liberal government minister, which is the only record the Hon. Mr Brokenshire has to be complaining about.

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire: We fixed your mess up, mate, and you've done it all again! You've just done another State Bank mess again!

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire: You've done it again!

The PRESIDENT: Order!

Members interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: What an embarrassment this man is.

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire: You've bankrupt the state twice!

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: No wonder the Liberal Party would not have him back, Mr President.

The PRESIDENT: Minister, just sit down for a minute. We have 7¾ minutes to go. There are a number of crossbenchers who want to ask questions, who may get an opportunity. I think the Hon. Mr Brokenshire, you have asked your question, you might not like the answer, but it is the answer you are being given, so let's all sit in silence and get on with question time. And the Leader of the Opposition, just show a bit of responsibility at question time. Minister.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Thank you Mr President. The Hon. Mr Brokenshire, I am sure, will listen in silence to my erudition.

The PRESIDENT: Minister, just get on with your answer, please.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: As I have said previously in the house, the outlook for the River Murray water resource availability in 2016-17 continues to be poor due to dry conditions and low storage volumes upstream. In the light of this, on 28 April I announced a minimum opening allocation—on 28 April, Hon. Mr Ridgway, listen for a change—a minimum opening allocation for SA River Murray irrigators of 36 per cent for 2016-17. This opening allocation will apply to holders of all consumptive entitlements, other than those entitlements held for critical human water needs purposes.

The announcement was based on a conservative planning scenario, and I have mentioned that before, Mr President, based on a conservative planning scenario in which only five in 100 years would have lower inflows. I also announced that private carryover will be available for holders of eligible entitlements in 2016-17. For example, irrigators can carry over unused allocations from 2015-16 up to 20 per cent of entitlement volume. Allocations traded from interstate will now, for the first time, also be factored into eligibility. I will announce the actual opening water allocations before 1 July 2016.

Increases above the opening allocation, back in April, for the Hon. Mr Brokenshire, who may not be following, for irrigators will require improvements in water resource availability above the level assumed in the opening scenario. For example, by the end of 2016-17 irrigation allocations would increase to 65 per cent if water resource availability reaches 1,310 gigalitres under a very dry scenario, and irrigation allocations will be at 100 per cent if water resource availability reaches 1,560 gigalitres under a moderate scenario. High reliability irrigation allocations under a similar very dry scenario for the River Murray system in Victoria are expected to commence on 0 per cent allocation and in the Goulburn River system in the range of 0 to 1 per cent, is my advice.

High reliability irrigation allocations for the River Murray in New South Wales are estimated to commence at around 80 per cent allocation. It should be noted that at 80 per cent allocation this volume is less than the volume allocated at 36 per cent for River Murray allocations in South Australia. In subsequent allocation announcements there may also be scope to revisit allocation for irrigators in light of water availability in the Adelaide Mount Lofty Ranges, which affects Adelaide's demands on River Murray water, and/or the outcomes from a cost-benefit study on the potential use of the Adelaide Desalination Plant to offset reductions.

I know it is very difficult for the honourable member, but what he needs to understand is the government cannot allocate water that is not in the system. The government cannot allocate water that is not in the river system. So, the honourable member might care to refer to an article that appeared in the Adelaide Advertiser on 30 May. There was a graph, a table, in that article which showed water inflows into the system over a previous number of years, I have forgotten how many it was, it might have been five or 10 years. In relation to the water inflows into the system for the previous 12 months, you could not see it on the chart, you could not see any colour in the bar of inflows in the last 12 months, that is because the inflows have been very low. That is why we have low opening allocations.

Had we stuck to just the June allocations, with the benefit of the inflows that come in in the preceding three or four months, it is possible—we do not know what the final figure is yet—the allocations would have been higher, but that is to ignore the point that the industry actually asked for early opening allocations, early opening allocations, which means then you base those early opening allocations on the information you have before you of what is in the water system now. Not what you hope it might be, because that could lead to some very serious mistakes down the track. You can only deal with the information that is before you, you can only deal with the water that is in the system, and to do otherwise would be misleading.

The Hon. Mr Brokenshire, if he needs a refresher in this, I can bring some officers in to his office and sit him down and go through it. It is important that he understands this. The industry asked for these early opening allocations, understanding what it meant. It is incumbent upon the Hon. Mr Brokenshire that he understands what it means as well.

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