Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

I say to members opposite—so loud in their objections—that in 2001 the Murray-Darling Basin Commission did a snapshot of the health of rivers in the Murray-Darling Basin and found 95 per cent environmental degradation in the Murray-Darling Basin in 2001. And what did they do about it? Absolutely nothing. In fact, when it came to dealing with the issue of water in the Murray-Darling Basin, they had a $10 billion plan, dreamt up on the back of an envelope, which did not even go through Treasury. So do not let opposition members start to give us any curry about how we deal with water in this House. This government is investing $5.8 billion to make irrigation infrastructure more efficient. We have a major focus on the Murray-Darling Basin, using less water to grow food and fibre, making the nation’s food bowl more resilient to climate change. And we are opening up the water market to trade water where it provides the most benefit. The government is committed to reform of the Murray-Darling Basin to keep the rivers healthy while continuing to provide water for households and for food production. This bill, which is in the Senate now, delivers on those reforms—the very reforms that the opposition leader said that he wanted. Now it is time for him to show some leadership and deliver them.

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