Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to continue this speech, after I started it last night for a couple of minutes. I'll reaffirm and point out again that, as a South Australian, I'm very proud to be speaking on the Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Bill 2023 because in South Australia we remember what we went through during the last drought. South Australia is one of the driest states in one of the driest continents in the world—and no doubt there will be more droughts to come. I recall, clearly, walking across the lakes at Goolwa, which is next to the Murray mouth, during our last drought period and being able to see the dead fish on the riverbank just lying there because we had gone through one of the most horrendous droughts. There were no water flows. As I said last night, be assured that, as day follows night, there will be more droughts in this country.

So I am very proud that we have announced this bill, that we have presented it and that we doing something to restore our Murray-Darling that we all depend on here in Australia. It is a region with 16 international significant wetlands. It's a refuge for 35 endangered species and a shield for 120 waterbird species. It's a sanctuary for 50 native fish species and a home to 2.3 million people, including 50 different First Nations peoples. It's generating $22 billion in agriculture and contributing $11 billion through tourism. That's our Murray-Darling Basin. All those points I have just made will be nonexistent, not just the species, such as the waterbirds and the native fish, but the generation of $22 billion in agriculture if we don't do something. If we don't do something to sustain the river system, there will be no agriculture in generations to come. That is why this bill is so important. A rich history of cultural heritage that spans generations is intertwined with this land.

During the last federal election, the then opposition, the Labor Party, pledged to uphold the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. It was a promise that we took to the people, and we are now delivering on that promise to restore the 450 gigalitres. That's exactly what we on this side of the House are doing. Let's just take a moment to think about the catastrophe that would continue to unravel had we not won the last federal election and had the coalition continued to be in power and if our government of today had not taken a stand. Imagine all the species and human beings that would be left struggling with a future of uncertainty. That's what that 450 gigalitres does; it gives certainty to the environmental flows, which means our agriculture will be sustained, our communities will be sustained and, of course, the environment will be sustained.

Our Minister for the Environment and Water pushed for this Murray-Darling Basin Plan just a few weeks ago, and I had the honour of standing alongside the minister to proudly announce that our government had successfully negotiated an agreement with basin governments, one of which was the South Australian state government, my home state. This agreement commits us to fully implement the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, including, as I said earlier, the most important part, which is the 450 gigalitres of water for environmental preservation.

Our voters and our constituents shouldn't need to remind us of the devastating impacts of climate change, and we should not need to remind those on the other side how serious this situation really is. The evidence is quite clear. We have already seen reduced flows across the basin, and we cannot afford to see matters get worse. Without the Murray-Darling Basin, we could face towns running out of water in the next droughts, and there's no doubt there will be droughts to come. I know that there is a lot of emotion on the other side from some of the MPs who represent those towns, but what they have to understand is that the businesses, the agriculture and the communities that exist along those towns won't be in existence in years to come unless we do something now. Without the Murray-Darling, we face towns running out of water and businesses not being able to sustain their agriculture. That's why this bill is so important.

These aren't abstract consequences. These are real lives, real communities and real ecosystems that, unfortunately, the previous government turned its back on. We saw that they tried to cut the final recovery targets to keep them below the scientific recommendations. They deliberately slowed the process delivering water to the basin. Because of this, it's now next to impossible to deliver the plan on the original timeline. In nine years they delivered just two gigalitres of the 450, which put them on track to complete the plan sometime around the year 4,000, perhaps, if we were lucky. On the flipside, even while we weren't in government, on this side of the House we didn't give up on the future of our basin. All you have to do is look at some of the speeches of the South Australian MPs on the Labor side to see how we were continuing to take the fight up to the then government. We didn't give up the fight, but unfortunately the government of the day gave up the fight and the Australian public. The plan should have been almost done by now. It should have been done and dusted, but it's not.

In the short time that our Minister for the Environment and Water and our government have been in power, we've delivered or contracted 26 gigalitres in total, much more than they did in nine years. After years of delays, roadblocks, excuses and divided politics on that side—and we saw the Nationals and the Liberal Party being in two mindsets when they were debating this, and they brought some changes to the original plan to this House; we all recall that—this bill is about getting back on track. It's about sustaining our river, sustaining our communities and ensuring that we have sustainable communities and environment in the Murray-Darling Basin.

It's a testament to the dedication on this side to the basin and its people. That's because we hold ourselves accountable, because we know our environment is important. As I said, it wasn't that long ago that we had that devastating drought here in Australia. I recall clearly that the entire South Australian population was demanding that we do something. In fact, our local newspaper in South Australia, the Advertiser, held each and every member representing South Australia in this place to account. We were receiving phone calls from journalists every day, demanding to see what we were doing about the River Murray. In fact, back then this was not a campaign just by environmental groups, green groups or politicised groups; this was a campaign by the entire state of South Australia, including News Corp's Advertiser. We are held to account to restore the River Murray, to bring back sustainability to it, to ensure those communities in the Murray-Darling Basin are sustainable well into the future.

If we were to take the advice from the other side, we'd sit back and do nothing and not have those environmental water flows going back into the river, which would devastate communities in years to come, ensuring that there would be no agriculture, and the extinction of species. We've taken a holistic approach that understands the connection between our environment, our communities and our economy. Everyone in this place should be here to support all three aspects. Those who delayed the completion of the plan in the past have a lot to answer for, but those who choose not to support the plan now should consider the harm they'll be causing to those groups that I spoke about—the community, the economy and the environment.

I'm talking especially about those who preach a green earth and accuse our government of inaction. This simply is not true. It is they who are blocking positive action, not us. You should be embarrassed in this place to preach as much as you do but not act on environmental sustainability, and especially on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. This isn't a matter of politics; it's a matter of responsibility in this place. It's about our world and a sustainable environment, including the sustainable communities and economies in the Murray-Darling Basin. It's about our world. It's about sharing water so that the basin can sustain future generations, and future generations of agriculture, so we can continue to grow food and produce to feed Australia but also feed the world and enhance our exports, value-adding to our food. This bill offers more time, more options, more money and more accountability, not more restrictions, as we saw from the other side. It's a lifeline for the basin.

This bill is because the previous government, those across from us, didn't act. This bill is because they deliberately ignored the Murray-Darling Basin. This bill is because, unlike those across from me, we care about actually getting the job done. We went to the public with our commitment before the election, and now we're delivering. It offers more certainty for farmers, more help for affected communities and more protection for the environment, native plants and animals. Climate change, with its shifting rainfall patterns and rising temperatures, has undoubtedly made water management more challenging in Australia. We are the driest continent on this earth, and South Australia is certainly the driest state in this country. If we don't act to secure our water future, who knows what lies ahead? So, on this side of the chamber, we're working towards a water market that is fair and transparent. We want to increase accountability, and we want water market decisions made public. I know this government welcomes accountability, because we have one clear agenda—to get this job done. If we don't act to secure our water future, who knows what lies ahead?

As we consider the implications of this bill, I ask everyone to rise above politics and focus on our shared responsibility to protect this vital resource for generations to come. Supporting the Murray-Darling plan is not a matter of political ideology; it is a matter of national necessity. The Murray-Darling Basin is not just a physical space on the map; it is a symbol of our shared responsibility, and it's a reminder that our actions today will echo through generations to come. Shaping the legacy we leave for our children and our grandchildren is a call to action, a call to put aside our differences and protect this very important ecosystem. But we need to do it together. So I urge everyone in this House: take a moment and remember the previous droughts, the countless species that call this basin home, the communities that rely on its water and the economic opportunities it provides. You can preach as much as you like, but this is a very important— (time expired)

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