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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-11-29 Daily Xml
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Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (14:39): Question No. 3: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation questions regarding his behaviour at Rigoni's.

Leave granted.

The Hon. P. Malinauskas interjecting:

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Was that a groan? I'm sorry.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: It's such an unimportant matter, isn't it? The Minister for Police—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Will the honourable Leader of the Government please desist, and will the honourable whip of the opposition please desist. The Hon. Ms Lensink has the floor.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Thank you, and may it be noted for the record, for the information of White Ribbon, that the Minister for Police just guffawed at my opening remarks. I will continue. One prominent journalist has described the minister's behaviour, and I quote:

I mean he's not even at the table because he flipped the table and walked out and then you have other examples with Business SA and the Law Society…just not engaging on getting solutions. That is not in any way standing up for South Australia, it is standing up for your ego and emotion, but not in any way it's going to get outcomes.

My questions for the minister are:

1. Will he concede that he has breached the Ministerial Code of Conduct?

2. Does he maintain that he would still behave the same way if he had his time again?

3. How sincere is your apology considering you stated you would behave that way again?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (14:41): I thank the honourable member for her most important questions and the opportunity to address some of the substantive issues that arose and gave rise to my inappropriate language, because that's the thing the Liberals are running away from at a million miles an hour. They are not interested in the issues that are important to this state in terms of the River Murray—not interested in those issues.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The minister has the floor.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: The Liberals wouldn't recognise a spine if they fell over one. These guys over here have not stepped up any activity whatsoever against the federal government and the Nationals' Barnaby Joyce's desire to strip South Australia of the aspects of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan which were integral to our accepting to sign up to that plan.

South Australians, on the other hand, know how important the River Murray is. It's not just for our economic future, it's also a tourism drawcard and holiday favourite for South Australian families and interstate families. We understand as South Australians how precious water is, and that's why we rallied together in 2012 to fight for the River Murray. We were so successful that we secured the 3,200 gigalitre commitment for our state.

You can imagine then my disappointment when I received the Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce's letter before the dinner scheduled on the evening ahead of the Ministerial Council of water ministers. Mr Joyce's letter indicated that he was not committed to the plan in full. Mr Joyce's letter was a fundamental breach of faith on a basin plan that South Australia has signed up to that ensured the health and sustainability of the River Murray. Mr President—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! This is not a general discussion. The honourable minister will answer the question.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: —so that members of the chamber not familiar with this issue might understand my wrath, I seek leave to table the letter that the Hon. Barnaby Joyce sent to me, dated 17 November 2016.

Leave granted.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: He was indeed the acting prime minister, I think, as of about 11pm of that day. As has been widely reported, I attended that pre-meeting dinner and indicated in the strongest terms that this government would be holding the commonwealth government to account and it must deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan on time and in full. That was after trying to spend two hours with the Hon. Mr Joyce, patiently and diplomatically trying to make the point to him about how important the plan, in full, was to South Australia—a commitment that, I understand, has now been secured thanks to South Australia's intervention on Barnaby Joyce's intention to tear up that basin plan.

The South Australian government had raised its concern when Mr Barnaby Joyce was appointed to the water portfolio. We held concerns that Mr Joyce would seek to represent his cotton and rice growing mates upstream, and those concerns were realised in his letter to me on 17 November 2016. I have tabled that letter, so there can be no calls from those members opposite on what Mr Joyce's intentions might or might not have been—it is as plain as the nose on their face.

I welcome Mr Marshall's support for the basin plan, Mr Marshall, the Leader of the Opposition, the member for Dunstan, albeit some days after receiving Mr Joyce's letter indicating that he had no intention of delivering the plan—better late than never for Mr Marshall's support of the state government's commitment to the River Murray. I was concerned, in the initial commentary coming from the Liberal Party on this issue—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Minister for Police, please desist. The Hon. Mr Lucas, please desist—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: —and everyone else desist. Order! Leader of the Government, we are trying to get some order during question time. If you persist, I will have no alternative but to name you. Understand?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: So, I was somewhat concerned at the initial commentary coming from the Liberal Party on this issue. The state Liberals and the federal Liberals seem to be scrambling every which way, unaware of Barnaby Joyce's intention to walk away from the basin plan. The shadow minister, Tim Whetstone, didn't even seem to understand that there was a basin plan with a commitment to 3,200 gigalitres of water to the river. His interview on 18 November on ABC Riverland, called the 450 gigalitre commitment a 'side deal' and he went on further to suggest that the 450 is something separate from the basin plan. That is the level of understanding that we have in the state Liberals. Just to be clear—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Just to be clear, page 214 of the basin plan—and I might seek leave to table that, Mr President—clearly identifies at schedule 5, clause 1:

(1) The outcomes listed below are ones that will be pursued under the Commonwealth’s program to increase the volume of water resources available for environmental use by 450 GL per year.

That is page 214 of the plan, the plan that the honourable Mr Tim Whetstone doesn't seem to have read past the executive summary.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink: Did you breach the code? You wouldn't have read the whole thing yourself; we know you're too lazy.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Hopefully his colleague, the Hon. Michelle Lensink, has understood the plan a little bit better because she told 891 on the same day that the basin plan is 'an act of law and there's 3,200 gigalitres.' So, at least the Hon. Michelle Lensink understands, if the honourable Mr Tim Whetstone has no clue. Clearly, the Hon. Michelle Lensink has read past the executive summary and knows a little bit more than her mate.

Then, we have Mr Tony Pasin, member for Barker, who was reported in The Sydney Morning Herald as suggesting that Mr Joyce had mishandled the issue and needed to do better by South Australia. Do better indeed. That's what this South Australian government is deeply committed to: ensuring the commonwealth government does do better for South Australians. We will not waver from our commitment to the river and to the people who rely on it for their livelihoods, to ensure they still get the water that they need to support their businesses and industries, but also to ensure the river's health is not compromised and is sustained long into the future.

I will continue to stand up for that outcome, I will continue to fight for the full delivery of the basin plan, and that means 3,200 gigalitres in full—not bits and pieces of it; in full.

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