Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question, though it has caused me to laugh, because the Leader of the Opposition knows, in constructing that question, that what he is saying is absolutely wrong. Let me quote some words to the Leader of the Opposition which I think are very relevant on this point, about the role of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. It was obviously implemented by a bill in the parliament. The words I seek to quote are:

This is an enormous step forward from the current governance model, which has remained largely unchanged since 1915 and requires the agreement of all basin jurisdictions before anything can be done. Through this bill, for the first time in the basin’s history, one basin-wide institution accountable to the government will be responsible for planning the basin’s water resources. It will be expert and it will be independent.

They were wise words, and people may be amazed to hear that they came from the member for Wentworth. I am certainly not going to make a habit of it, but on this occasion I would adopt the words of the member for Wentworth. Everything has a first, and possibly a last moment—and that is my last moment adopting his words.

What was set up under the Howard government, when the Leader of the Opposition was sitting at the cabinet table, presumably reading his cabinet papers and absorbing what was in them, was a process where the Murray-Darling Basin Authority—

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