Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources. Minister, Townsville is the latest part of Queensland to be drought declared. While the federal government cannot make it rain, can the minister advise what our government is doing about water security for Northern Queensland and planning for the future?

Ms King interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Ballarat will cease interjecting.

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Deputy Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. The honourable member was born in Quilpie. He understands the auctioneering game very well and obviously had a lot of experience before he started moving up to Townsville, where he has obviously had a great influence on the political delivery for that city. A part of the delivery for that city, of course, comes from its water infrastructure. Obviously, in the north of Australia, we are very excited about being part of a government that actually believes we have the capacity to build dams again, that believes our future is just as strong as it was for Curtin, Chifley and Menzies, who built the Snowy Mountains Scheme, and that believes the water infrastructure that we will deliver for this nation is not only going to assist in mitigating the effects of drought but is also going to assist in the industrial development of great cities such as Townsville.

That is why, through the agricultural white paper, we have put $500 million, half a billion dollars, towards feasibility studies on the construction of dams. That is why we have a $5 billion facility for Northern Australia to assist with further development. That is why we have currently released to the states—and we will hear back from them by January—projects that they wish to go forward with. That is why I have been in negotiations with state ministers in Queensland on how we can improve and build new water infrastructure so that not only can we create the mechanism for great wealth for the northern part of Australia but we can alleviate some of the issues that are happening now, with people coming out of the mining industry and obviously looking for a job. They are coming out of the mining industry, with an idle plant that is ideally suited to be in the earth moving business, which is absolutely fundamental to the construction of dams.

I fervently believe that, in the term of this government, we will be progressing the process of the construction of new water infrastructure, just like we are constructing dams at Chaffey near Tamworth, just like we are constructing water infrastructure in Tasmania right now and just like we do spend $2½ million a day in assistance in the construction of water infrastructure in the Murray-Darling Basin, as part of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. I look forward to working with the honourable member as we deliver more water infrastructure, as we see that we are the exciting sort of government with the vision, with the plan, and that will deliver more dams.