Stewart McArthur (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in favour of the major water recycling project in the Geelong region—the Barwon Water proposal for a water reclamation plant in northern Geelong. I have been supporting this proposition for the past 18 months. This is a Barwon Water proposal to help save water, recycle water and deliver increased water for home use by people of Geelong’s northern suburbs.

The Shell company has supported this proposal and committed to support recycling water from the Shell refinery plant. The Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Turnbull, has been carefully analysing the proposal from Barwon Water to see if it meets the criteria for funding from the Australian water fund. Minister Turnbull was so interested in the proposal that he accepted my invitation in January to meet with Barwon Water and Shell officials on site in Corio. This project should go ahead and I strongly support it. I look forward to a final analysis by the government and Minister Turnbull.

It is of concern that the federal Labor candidate for Corio has suggested that, under a future Labor government, any federal funding should be tied to Shell’s investment and employment arrangements. This is a water recycling initiative and should not be confused with ALP or trade union policies on employment or business investment. It is not clear whether federal Labor support Barwon Water recycling or not. Labor should act quickly to remove any uncertainty that they would put unreasonable caveats on the funding for this project.

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