Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Heritage, the Arts and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts. Minister, given that Eildon Dam is at 13 per cent capacity and the water storages of Melbourne and Geelong are currently over 30 per cent capacity, will you guarantee that no environmental water will be diverted from the Murray-Darling Basin food bowl to the toilet bowls of Melbourne and Geelong via the north-south pipeline?

Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for her question. As she knows, the undertakings that have been made by the government on this issue are particularly clear. As she also knows, the $12.9 million commitment that the government has made to the Water for the Future program is unparalleled in the history of approaches to this issue. The government has identified as necessary an investment of $3.1 billion in restoring health to the Murray-Darling Basin and the region. On that basis, the government’s policy position has been particularly clear.