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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-11-18 Daily Xml
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Murray-Darling Basin Plan

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (15:15): I seek leave to make a very brief explanation before asking the illustrious minister for the River Murray, climate change and everything else some questions regarding water.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: This week, I had another meeting regarding the Senate inquiry into the River Murray plan and the whole Murray-Darling Basin Plan because Family First have put a submission in, ensuring the protection of the plan and also the rights of South Australia to access water and keep a healthy river right through to the Murray Mouth. My question to the minister is:

1. Has the minister finally got around to putting a submission in since I alerted him to the fact that his government had failed—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: He is asleep at the wheel most of the time.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: —because he was asleep at the paddle steamer's wheel in the captain's office?

2. Will the minister support our call to leave the River Murray plan as it is and not allow it to be adulterated by those Eastern States senators?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (15:16): What a joy it is to be in this chamber and have a question asked of me which I answered last time the honourable member asked this question of me!

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: Obviously, you didn't give a very satisfactory answer.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Well, obviously, he didn't actually read it, did he? Here he is, a representative of Family First, saying, 'Here we are supporting the Murray-Darling Basin Plan as it currently exists,' when his very own party bloody senator, Senator Bob Day, is off in Canberra selling us down the river at every opportunity and selling down South Australians. He can't even control him because, in fact, Senator Day does whatever he likes when he is over in Canberra. They don't even talk to each other. They haven't got a coherent policy on the River Murray, and he comes into this—

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: Point of order: I asked the minister to, firstly, stick to a proper answer and not diversify into this debate. Secondly, he has no idea when I talk to Senator Bob Day. For the record, I talked to him yesterday.

The PRESIDENT: The minister will answer the question in whichever way he sees fit. Minister.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: And can he refrain from swearing, too?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Yes, I do deeply apologise, the Hon. Mr Ridgway, for using profanities, but I feel very strongly about South Australians going to Canberra and selling this state out, and that's what Family First have done in regard to the River Murray and, now, a Murray River plan.

Let me remind the honourable member that, when he last asked this question in parliament several sitting weeks ago, I did advise him that in fact a submission from the state government was being sent to the Senate committee looking at this issue. I also advised him of some of the concerns that we had with some of those people on that Senate committee and the issues that they were tackling in regard to taking away South Australia's water.

Let me run the honourable member through it again, because clearly he doesn't bother with either listening to answers that are given in this place or reading them in Hansard at a later stage. He might want to encourage his staff to do so on his behalf. I have no idea—he is quite right—about the conversations he has with Senator Bob Day. All I can say, based on the evidence of his question to me right now, is that they don't cover anything of material importance to this state—clearly not.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: You are very nasty today.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Well, you know, you get stupid questions asked of you. You have got to expect to have a little bit handed back to you, don't you, Mr President?

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Here he goes again. He doesn't understand that we have already submitted it. He doesn't understand that South Australia already has submitted it, and I told him last time we were here.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The minister has the floor.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: At least, with this state government, we recognise there is a special relationship that South Australians have with the River Murray. The River Murray is critically important to our state, providing water for domestic use to 1.2 million South Australians, but also water for $70 billion worth of economic activity in agriculture, in tourism, in industry, in the environment and of course in recreation.

Being at the end of the system, we can see firsthand the damage that is done by taking too much water, so we have long recognised the need to protect this precious resource and to put water back into the river. We only need to look at the South Australian irrigators who capped their take in 1969 and adopted much more efficient techniques, decades ago, as an example of how our state has ensured that we use water responsibly and have led in this area.

South Australia has never been the problem when it comes to stress on the River Murray. We have always been aware of the importance of sustaining the river system for the long term. Upstream states do not appear to have that understanding. They took out too much water. They have been giving licences to take water like there is no tomorrow and now we have the situation that we faced in the millennium drought when everything came to a very big crunch very quickly.

They took far too much water out of the system and, through the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, we have reached an agreement on how it can be put back. This is why the South Australian government has fought so hard in recent years to establish the plan. It is what will provide for a healthy environment and stronger river communities. I did not see the Hon. Mr Brokenshire out on the barricades with Premier Jay Weatherill fighting for South Australia, standing up for this state and standing up for our river communities; and I certainly did not see Senator Bob Day anywhere near, standing up for our state.

To achieve this rebalancing, including the rehabilitation of the many degraded Ramsar-listed wetlands and flood plains, environmental flows totalling 3,200 gigalitres are required. While increasing water use and river regulation have contributed to the significant economic development, there is overwhelming evidence of increasing degradation of its environmental condition and water quality. The risks to the river, the communities and the irrigators who rely on it will only become more significant as we experience increasingly dry conditions into the future.

Recent attempts to undermine the basin plan by crossbench federal senators, including Senator Bob Day (allegedly, a senator for South Australia), failed to recognise that a healthy river is essential to sustain river communities and producers. These senators are playing politics with people's lives, making demands without any scientific basis and putting at risk a hard-fought and hard-won agreement on how we can restore our river system to health.

The basin plan was developed through a comprehensive process based on sound science, socio-economic analysis and community input. Its provisions have been extensively debated and revised, including changes recommended by basin jurisdictions for water recovery targets to provide certainty to water users. Implementing the basin plan in full and on time is essential to securing the health of the River Murray, ensuring the sustainability of our river communities.

While implementation is in its early phases, there are clear indications that the basin plan and associated commonwealth funding programs are on track and providing benefits for basin plan communities and the environment. These include: improved water quality and ecosystem health; the facilitation of efficient water trade; coordinated environmental watering and improved water delivery; irrigation efficiency (at long last) in the Eastern States; and regional development and business improvement opportunities.

South Australia's submission to the Senate select committee—and I ask the Hon. Mr  Brokenshire to listen to my answer right now—South Australia's submission to the Senate select committee on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan also stresses that basin governments must retain their commitment to work cooperatively to implement the basin plan on time and in full. South Australia will continue to stand up for the River Murray and fight for the basin plan to be delivered in full.

I welcome the Hon. Mr Brokenshire finally waking up to the need to stand up to the Eastern States. I call on him to stand up to his own Senator Bob Day and tell him we need this plan delivered on time, in full, and to stop meddling with an agreement that delivers this outcome for South Australians.

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