Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This week the Prime Minister either forgot, misunderstood or did not hear correctly. But this is not a question of his memory, understanding or hearing. John Howard is a clever politician, but this week we saw him make mistakes that he would not have made two years ago. It is not his age; it is the age of his ideas. When it comes to the challenges of a new century, this is a Prime Minister who is simply not up to the task. His ideas have led to inaction on climate change over the last 11 years. What we saw this week was an attempt by the Prime Minister to define the debate as if you can have a solution to the water crisis without having a solution to climate change. You cannot. There is a direct link between our dwindling water supply and climate change. We need to address both if we are going to succeed.

The Prime Minister also attempted to say this week that Labor were not being constructive in our approach to the discussion that is taking place between the Commonwealth and the states as we speak. It is not surprising that the Prime Minister conceded that he had refused to give the Leader of the Opposition or me a briefing on the details of the plan which he announced on 25 January. It is very clear that more effort went into the writing of a political speech than into the development of fully costed proposals with time lines and management plans.

You do not only have to listen to the opposition on this. Today a nine-page document has been released by the Murray-Darling Basin Commission raising tens of problems with the issues. It raises not only the $900 million funding shortfall—a shortfall which I must say the statement from Wendy Craik, the chief executive, does not address—but a number of other issues. It raises the issue of land management and its relation to water. It raises the issue of assets and what will occur. It raises the ongoing issue of what will happen to the funding of existing programs, such as the Living Murray initiative. When the Leader of the Opposition asked about that today he was dismissed, and the Prime Minister arrogantly ignored his constitutional responsibilities and said that he would tell the premiers and would not be accountable to this parliament. That is not surprising, because it is quite clear, when you look at the time lines, that the detail simply is not there.

We asked the Treasurer on Tuesday: could he confirm that the Department of the Environment and Water Resources and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry were advised on 8 January of the intention to spend $10 billion and whether that was 10 days before Treasury was advised of the proposal and 12 days before the Department of Finance and Administration was advised. The Treasurer effectively confirmed that with his answer.

It was also confirmed by the fact that on the last sitting day of last year, on Thursday, 7 December, the government introduced the Murray-Darling Basin Amendment Bill 2006. There was quite clearly no intention to make a major change to the arrangements that were in place. Indeed, that bill was due for debate in this House today but was of course deferred, just as the Senate committee hearing which was scheduled to be held tomorrow has been deferred. So, as of December and early January, when those timetables were set, it was not envisaged that the Prime Minister’s speech of 25 January would occur.

We have been positive and constructive about this, but we have not had answers from members such as the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. We asked him today about the issue of compulsory acquisition. He has a very different position from the Minister for Environment and Water Resources—a minister who I note was benched today. On the day of the big water announcement he did not get to say a word in parliament. The water minister who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing has been benched by his own government. Water is too important for there not to be a detailed plan. I urge the Prime Minister to engage with the opposition as well as with the premiers in the interests of solving our national water crisis. It does require national leadership. (Time expired)

Patrick Secker (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the member for Barker I represent all of the Murray River in South Australia, the lower lakes of Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert and of course all of the world-renowned Coorong. The federal Labor Party has been absolutely silent on the state Labor Premier’s plan to put a weir at Wellington. What is the view of the member for Grayndler? What is the view of the Leader of the Opposition? What is the view of the opposition spokesman for the environment, the member for Kingsford Smith, on the proposed Wellington weir?

In all my life I have never come across such an ill-conceived proposal. Millions of taxpayers’ dollars have already been wasted on investigating this stupid proposal. The idea came from a naive viewpoint that if we close Lake Alexandrina off from the Murray River we can save over 1,000 gigalitres of water from evaporation and it can stay in the Murray River instead. That is a very naive view. What we will end up with instead is a stagnant pool of water between the proposed weir and Lock 1. It is common knowledge that, if you block off a river, when the water meets that block or weir it will deposit its silt and salt, which gradually extend backwards up the river. Presently, salt and silt are moved around by the natural movement of water, mainly from the prevailing winds. Because Lake Alexandrina is a large, shallow lake, winds push the water back up the river for 50 kilometres and possibly further, thereby replenishing the lower lakes and the lower Murray River. For example, when the winds are blowing, the water level at Mannum, some 50 kilometres north of the lake, will rise up to a metre. That movement of water is essential for the life of the lakes and of course the fish and insect life therein.

The doublespeak from the Premier of South Australia and Minister Maywald suggested that the weir would only be temporary. But at least 80 per cent of that 2.6 kilometre weir would be permanent. Once the weir material is in the lake, it will be virtually impossible to take it out again. I have actually visited the site of the proposed weir on both sides of the lake. If anyone here chose to take the time to go and visit it, they would see the complete insanity of the idea of putting a weir at Wellington. If Mike Rann wants to kill Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert then the Wellington weir will do it. If Mike Rann wants to kill the Coorong then the Wellington weir will do it. It seems to me that the Premier of South Australia just does not understand the Murray and those water issues.

It has been interesting to see the Premier’s crazy opposition to national control of the Murray-Darling Basin become more fragile every day. That is set against the fact that the Leader of the Opposition in this parliament has actually given very strong support for national control. First of all, Mike Rann said that we should have an independent body free of politicians. In other words, he was suggesting that a further $10 billion of taxpayers’ money should be controlled by an unelected, unaccountable group of bureaucrats. If we had that sort of set-up, who would we go to with problems? We could not go to the Prime Minister because he would not have any power over an independent body. We could not go to the Premier of South Australia because the Premier would have no power over or accountability for the Murray-Darling Basin. The Premier’s plan was completely unworkable.

I see today that he has back-pedalled and is now saying that this independent body would be answerable to a federal minister. What a backflip. But in the meantime he wants us fund his desalination plant. That plant is not for Adelaide’s water supply—something which he has rejected—but for Roxby Downs. My two messages are: firstly, that the sooner we take water management in the Murray-Darling Basin away from Mike Rann the better and, secondly, do not build a weir at Wellington. That weir will not only not achieve water for Adelaide but also kill the Murray, the lower lakes and the Coorong. (Time expired)