John Cobb (Calare, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

I must say that listening to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, I do not know how much he has been out to regional Australia but he certainly did not listen to anything anyone told him out there. Of the issues that are really coming home in regional Australia at the moment, certainly water is one of them. There are the issues brought up by the Leader of the National Party such as all the money that is being ripped out of regional Australia, not to mention, as you said, Leader, that they tried to remove another $2 billion last night.

We are at a point where water is the issue. Climate change—okay, that is an issue, but water is here and now, and it has been totally ignored by the Minister for Climate Change and Water in the Rudd government. It is the lifeblood of rural and regional Australia. Despite all the grand words, slogans and stunts from the Rudd government prior to the election, our communities have been left totally rudderless in what is going on in the future direction of water management in the country.

Debate interrupted.

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