Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Dobell mentions the cloud-seeding proposal, which the minister for the environment contributed to significantly—and overall that area is his own department. But I urge the member for Mayo to speak to his leader to find out which of these positions on buying back water the Liberal Party takes. What is their true position? The Liberal Party is walking both sides of the fence—or, in this case, both sides of the river.

We have heard a lot from the member for Mayo about infrastructure. He will be pleased to know, if he reads the Water for the Future proposal, that it includes a significant investment in infrastructure, for the Lower Lakes in particular. We have already started to deliver pipelines, including $120 million for piping works around the Lower Lakes to secure drinking water for these communities. The government has also made available $200 million to the South Australian government to find a lasting solution. In addition, of course, we need to reduce Adelaide’s reliance on the Murray-Darling system, so we have also committed $1.5 billion to reduce the reliance that towns and cities have on the Murray-Darling system through infrastructure that supports stormwater harvesting, recycling of waste water and desalination. The government has also already announced assistance to communities and, in particular, grants to affected local councils.

I have to say that the last part of the motion is completely false. The only people playing the blame game when it comes to water, the only people playing cheap politics, walking both sides of the fence, are the Liberal Party. (Time expired)

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