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

Last week, the release of the draft environmental impact statement on the Wellington weir signalled Labor’s hoisting high the white flag over the future of South Australia’s Lower Lakes. It sent a clear signal of plans backed by Minister Wong and Minister Garrett to build the weir that will condemn the freshwater ecology of the area. Right from the start, I have been strongly outspoken against the weir in my electorate. For many months now, Ministers Wong and Garrett have been idle onlookers as the parched Lower Lakes cried out for urgent action to save the waterways—action that never arrived. Now, after months of inaction, instead of a plan for water-saving infrastructure we see a plan for a damaging weir.

A weir across the Murray River is not infrastructure. It does nothing to make the river run. It does the opposite. Once you allow seawater into the lakes, it is game over for the freshwater environment. One of the world’s great wetlands would be irreparably damaged. The freshwater on Adelaide’s doorstep would be lost forever. Historically, the lakes have been fresh water for 95 per cent of the time. When the Murray flows abated, naturally there was a mild estuarine effect. But to allow a flood of seawater in now is precisely the opposite of what the freshwater lakes need.

I recall a story from my childhood of a brave little Dutch boy who saved Holland from being flooded when he discovered and plugged a tiny hole in the dyke. The premise of the fable is that a small effort could avert a major disaster. The decision to allow a weir in South Australia is akin to shoving the brave little boy aside, grabbing a sledgehammer and making an even bigger hole in the dyke, creating an even bigger disaster. The environmental impact statement released last week also confirms the potential for environmental harm to result from the construction of the weir and the inundation of salt water. That is why I will never agree with those who want to bust down the barrages and flood the Lower Lakes with seawater. We must not be seduced by what looks to be the easy option. There is a better way, a smarter way.

University of Adelaide’s Dr David Paton has identified alternative strategies for preserving the Lower Lakes as freshwater. They involve the seeding of plants to reduce the acidification of any exposed soils, while preserving the freshwater ecology of the lakes. Instead of continuing their march towards construction of the weir, Senator Wong and Mr Garrett should be talking to Premier Rann about plans to purchase a modest allocation of 30 gigalitres of immediate one-off water to help breathe life into the Lower Lakes. The environmental impact statement is a reminder that the urgent water infrastructure works to improve water flows down the Murray continue to be just a mirage.

Despite years now of me continually bringing to the parliament’s attention the devastating situation of the Lower Lakes, it remains the case that nowhere along the Murray-Darling Basin has Labor taken action to commence urgent water-saving infrastructure that could help the Lower Lakes. Some 1,200 billion litres of water which could be saved is being wasted through government inaction. Instead, Labor is supporting the construction of the controversial north-south pipeline in Victoria that will drain at least a further 75 billion litres of water from the struggling Murray River system. That water will go to Melbourne for residents to flush their toilets, water their gardens and fill their swimming pools. I, along with my fellow South Australians, continue to despair at the limp response from the federal government to the Lower Lakes crisis.

It was the coalition which unveiled plans in early 2007 to invest $5.8 billion for water infrastructure. Minister Wong sat on that money for months, doing nothing while the Lower Lakes continued to deteriorate. Where was the Premier in 2007 when the coalition was trying to finalise water reform? He was working with Kevin Rudd and the Labor premiers to delay the national water agreement. Premier Rann’s threat of High Court action against Labor in Victoria is also a slap in the face for Senator Wong’s authority to deliver on national water reform. The Premier from Senator Wong’s own state has walked past the federal water minister’s door on his way to the High Court, or maybe she refused to see him in the same way she has refused to meet with the Murray-Darling Basin delegation for months now. Now we face the prospect of the national water agreement unravelling as the Labor premiers fight amongst themselves over water rights. The coalition promised a genuine national water agreement. Kevin Rudd weakly gave in to the Victorian Premier and stalled on real water reform. (Time expired)