Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak to a welcome piece of legislation for South Australians, the Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Bill 2023. We know a healthy Murray-Darling river system is good for the economy, good for agriculture, good for tourism and good for the environment. It's good for Australia. A healthy river system means it's healthy from the top to the bottom, and we in South Australia are, of course, at the bottom, downstream on the Murray-Darling river system. We are dependent on those upstream for water quality and water quantity, but our farmers, our tourism, our economy and our environment in South Australia are no less important than in the upstream states.

The Murray-Darling Basin Plan was conceived to provide fair outcomes for all. We simply cannot have a first come, first served approach to a vital resource such as water in this country. The implications are too serious for the economy, for agriculture, for the environment and for the very survival of downstream towns and communities, and we do need to be prepared for the inevitable next drought. In 2012 the Murray-Darling Basin Plan was enacted by a Labor government to achieve just this outcome—an equitable outcome that works for all states and protects us from the vagaries of drought. The Liberal-Nationals government were then in for a decade, and they did next to nothing. They delivered a measly two gigalitres in a decade—that is, less than two per cent of the 450 gigalitres of environmental water promised. Since being elected in 2022 the Albanese Labor government has added a further 24 gigalitres to that—that is, 24 gigalitres in just over a year compared to the Liberal-Nationals' two gigalitres in 10 years, so 12 times the amount in one-tenth of the time.

While I'm new in this place, there are many of those opposite that are still here from that last lost decade. They did nothing for the river communities, and they've particularly done nothing for those of us downstream, particularly those opposite that are from South Australia and directly representing those communities. The Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Bill is one of those pieces of legislation we wish we didn't have to propose, but it is a necessary piece of legislation to fix a decade of inaction by those opposite.

My friend Sally Grundy and her family run the last station in the Murray-Darling Basin. Mundoo Island Station is situated on three islands right at the mouth of the Murray, the most downstream of downstreams. Her husband's family have farmed this land since 1876, and Sally has fought a hard battle for the local environment for decades, as well as running the station. Sally told me about the importance of water quality and water quantity to downstream water users and the importance of a good environmental outcome along the Murray-Darling and particularly at the Murray mouth. Downstream users get all the accumulated nutrients and salts from the entire system, and so they need sufficient flow to flush this out to sea. This requires sufficient flow to keep the Murray mouth open, including in times of drought. To not flush it, to leave this accumulation of nutrients and salts at the bottom of the river, leads to disastrous economic, agricultural and social problems, in her words, due to the reduction in water quality. Salinity levels need to be kept below 1,000 EC, electrical conductivity, units to ensure water quality for stock and domestic use.

When we talk about domestic use of Murray water, it's not only those communities on the banks of the river that use the Murray for water; pipelines take Murray River water to Adelaide and as far away as Yorke Peninsula and Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, in the electorate of Grey, to provide water for domestic use. So, when those opposite talk about their concerns for the agricultural sector and rural communities, I would invite them to remember that the lower end of the Murray has agriculture and communities as well and that that agriculture and those rural communities around the Murray mouth—in the electorate of Mayo, the Lower Lakes, the Coorong; and the stretch further up to the rural city of Murray Bridge, in the electorate of Barker—also rely on Murray water.

Having worked for many decades in the local environment, Sally is passionate about ensuring the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is delivered in full. She knows how important it is for her local community and the agriculture sector. I discussed this bill with her. She was pretty across it anyway. She tells me that the slightly extended time line is warranted, considering the lack of achievement to date. The plan must be delivered in full. She supports voluntary buybacks. This should be an option on the table to assist in returning water to the environment. The environmental flows are not just for environmental benefit; they are important for maintaining water quality for agriculture and domestic use.

She points out that the Lower Lakes are often overlooked, and certainly the debate I have heard here in this place to date seems to largely ignore the Lower Lakes region. The river is the lifeblood for communities across the entire system but particularly at the lower end, where we are so dependent on the goodwill of those upstream. Sally is passionate about the local environment on and around the station—the unique Coorong, one of 16 internationally significant Ramsar wetlands on the Murray-Darling Basin, which are important particularly for the migratory shorebirds that arrive annually from as far away as Siberia and Alaska, needing healthy feeding grounds in order to return to their Northern Hemisphere breeding grounds. Regular surveys must be undertaken for endangered species, because, once they're gone, they're gone. She tells me that the yarra pygmy perch that they used to see around her station are no longer seen in the Lower Lakes.

So it is disappointing to me that those opposite, who profess to be so passionate about the Murray-Darling Basin, profess to be committed to helping the agriculture sector and rural communities, draw a line somewhere in the middle of South Australia and don't seem to care about those in the lower Murray communities and industries. However, I will point out some good sense recently from some South Australian Liberals. I'd like to thank the member for Sturt for his recent comments, reported in the Australian newspaper, that the 450 gigalitres of environmental water should be delivered, including through voluntary water purchase. And Senator McLachlan, in the other place, said it was imperative that we prioritise the welfare of our natural world by securing this water. Maybe the other members opposite, some of whom have been here for significantly longer than these two—and particularly those whose electorates cover some of these communities that will be affected by a dying lower Murray River—should look to these newer colleagues on this issue and see some sense.

It is clear that what has happened under the previous government, the Liberal-National government, has not been working. They were not doing the right thing by South Australia and those downstream that are dependent on the Murray-Darling system. Unlike the Liberal and National parties, Labor is united on delivering this plan. The original plan deadline was June 2024, and in the early years we were well on track to meet those deadlines. But the Liberals and Nationals spent a decade sabotaging the plan. They tied up projects with impossible rules so they couldn't deliver water savings. The former Liberal South Australian environment minister, now Leader of the Opposition in South Australia, rolled over and agreed to letting this happen despite the impact it would have on South Australia and particularly the important environments of the lower Murray. The Liberals and Nationals blocked water recovery programs. They tried to cut the final recovery targets to keep them below scientific recommendations, and as a result progress slowed to a dribble under the previous government. Because of this, it is now impossible to deliver the plan on the original timeline.

This legislation will rescue the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. The legislation is important for basin communities and for every Australian who cares about the environment. At last year's federal election, I was there when the Labor Party committed to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full—congratulations for all of those people who recognised it was by the Torrens. With this legislation that we are debating, we are fulfilling that promise to the river system and to every Australian who depends on it.

On coming into government, a review made it clear quite how bad things had got under the previous government—that it would now in fact be impossible to reach the original deadlines. The minister has recently struck an historic agreement with the New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and ACT governments. It's a reasonable agreement, a balanced agreement, an agreement that took more than a year of detailed consultation to piece together. Our government has worked with states and territories, with farmers and irrigators, with scientists and experts and with environmentalists and First Nations groups.

What this legislation will do is give basin governments more time to deliver the remaining water based on expert advice. This includes the recovery of 450 gigalitres for the environment by 31 December 2027 and the delivery of water infrastructure projects by 31 December 2026. It gives us more options to deliver the remaining water, including water infrastructure projects and voluntary water buybacks. It gives us more funding to deliver the remaining water and support communities where voluntary water buybacks have flow-on impacts. Importantly, it gives us more accountability from Murray-Darling Basin governments on delivering the remaining water on time. Federal government funding will be contingent on achieving water recovery targets within deadlines.

This is about a return to common sense. It's about remembering what the point is—to ensure a healthy, sustainable basin for all of the communities for the future. This is a complex plan with a simple objective: to set the river up better for the future. This plan has been off-track for many years. Minister Plibersek recently received official advice that it simply can't be delivered by its original deadline of June 2024. Put simply, we want more options, not more restrictions. If the bill doesn't pass this year, the current legislation requires states to withdraw their unfinished projects, about half of them. This means a major part of the plan will fall over, incurring substantial costs and delays.

Delivering the plan is good for the environment, it's good for local jobs and it's good for communities. Our government made a commitment to delivering the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full, and that is exactly what we are doing. Remember, these Basin Plan targets were a bipartisan agreement more than a decade ago to support the sustainability of the river system. After a wasted decade, these challenges are now even more acute.

Australia is facing an environmental emergency. If we don't act now and preserve the Murray Darling, our basin towns will be unprepared for drought, our native animals will face the threat of extinction, our river ecosystems will risk environmental collapse, and our food and fibre production will be insecure and unsustainable. A healthy basin also means healthy communities. It means a river that families can enjoy, that promotes recreation and tourism and, most importantly, that provides clean drinking water to three million Australians every day. That's an important moment for basin communities and for any Australian who cares about the health of our environment.

We can never forget why Australian governments designed the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in the first place. We know the next drought is just around the corner, and that is why we have a Murray-Darling Basin Plan in this country: to help us through the dry years, to make sure there's enough water flowing through the river system at its lowest moments to make it to the next rain. South Australia is, obviously, at the bottom of the river, and Labor has strongly advocated for South Australia for many years about this, since well before my time in this place.

All I can do is urge my colleagues in this place and the other to support this bill. Remember why a healthy Murray-Darling Basin is so important, why we need the plan to be delivered in full. If you support agriculture, then I urge you to support agriculture downstream as well. If you support rural communities, then I urge you to support the communities downstream as well, including those that are dependent on drinking water from the Murray, even though they are hundreds of kilometres away on the York and Eyre peninsulas. If you support the environment, then I urge you to support the downstream environment, including the Lower Lakes, the Coorong and the Murray mouth. The Murray-Darling Basin Plan is about a healthy and sustainable system for all, from the top of the catchment all the way down to my friend Sally at the Murray mouth. This plan is needed. I commend the bill.

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