David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with such pride that I stand here today to provide certainty to the two million Australians who live up and down the Murray-Darling Basin. Today is a historic moment for this nation. As the member for Watson so eloquently put it this morning, since Federation we've never had an agreement on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, but this parliament today sets forth on a new direction for the people of Australia, and for those two million Australians. And as he quite eloquently also put it: this isn't perfect; it was never going to please everybody, but it was the best plan to give the best outcomes to the environment and to our farmers—for the social and economic benefit of this nation.

While I wasn't in this parliament when the plan came to be in 2012, I'm proud to say that I'm here to implement it as the new water minister. And I do it with some pride, because I know the personal stories of the hardship that this has caused to communities and individuals, and it's driven me to make sure that I have been determined to get outcomes rather than play politics. It's beholden on me to talk about some of those brave people whose livelihoods and lives we've impacted over the last five or six years. One in particular, who always will stick with me, is a young agronomist in Dirrinbandi, who, in tears, told me that because of the uncertainty he was unable to employ a second agronomist. So he was doing 17 hours a day of work, to the point of exhaustion. He rolled his ute, nearly killing himself and leaving a young family behind. I have seen fear in the eyes of a young man who wants to get ahead and wants to be in a nation that gets a fair go. That's driven me to make sure we've got outcomes. I've seen hardened men brought to tears over this—hardened farmers that have seen far, far greater adversity in their lives, but this has broken them to their absolute core.

And there are the business owners. A business owner that I met had been 40 years in the one business. Now, basically because of the uncertainty, his business is worthless—not worth a cent. He had no superannuation. He had a mental health plan. They were trying to keep him alive, let alone keep him in his business. These are the lives that we've impacted. These are the livelihoods of people that we are today going to fix. This bill will set us on a journey of bipartisanship to rectify that. I thank those opposite for coming on this journey.

The Water Amendment Bill 2018 will allow us to re-introduce the Northern Basin Review back into parliament. We were fortunate enough to have the sustainable diversion limit disallowance defeated the other day, with the assistance of the opposition. I sincerely thank them for that. This now sets us on a journey to complete the plan on time, in full. Can I say that the member for Watson, who has been forthright and honest in all negotiations with me during this journey, has ensured that we not only have in place a plan that was created in 2012; we've built on it. We've built on it to ensure that there is now compensation to the extent of economic reconstruction for some of those communities that have been hurt severely by the buybacks of water that stripped the livelihoods of businesses—like the gentleman who I just talked about who owns a business and is on a mental health plan. It's about trying to reconstruct their economy, with a $20 million injection into changing their industries away from irrigation and into other agricultural pursuits.

But it's also about compliance. It's about making sure there is integrity in this plan, whether it be from Queensland to South Australia.

If you are doing the right thing, you have nothing to fear. If you are doing the wrong thing, you are going to get caught. We'll be instituting a Northern Basin Commissioner to ensure that compliance by the states is upheld. That's a practical and sensible solution. That's something that gives integrity to this plan, which all Australians should be proud of, because we know that it will be sustainable.

But what I'm most proud about is the fact that we've made, for the first time, an investment for Indigenous Australians. As I sat in St George and listened to an elder whom I respect above all, Ronnie Waters, he told me that basically he had been forgotten in this whole plan and that he was not empowered to do something about it. I'm proud to say, and as the member for Watson said so eloquently this morning, this is probably a world first. We've ensured that we are now empowering Indigenous Australians to purchase cultural water for economic purposes. They have a place in this. They have a traditional ownership of this. They have a cultural feel for that water. When you sit there under a tree with Ronnie Waters and listen to him talk about water being in that river, passing on his culture to the younger generations of St George, not only Indigenous but white Australians, it bridges the gap more than anything else in regional and rural Australia. I'm proud to say that we've made that commitment. It was important to me. I'm pleased to say that the member for Watson came on that journey with me.

This plan was always about goodwill and trust, but over its journey we haven't had that. We've had vitriol and name-calling. I was never going to get into that. This was far too important. Those people's lives and livelihoods which I have been talking about were always inside me. It worried me that, unless we got this right, unless we set out on this journey now, it would fall apart and we would never have another opportunity to get it right again. I was determined for those people who had touched me during this journey to make sure that I got it right for them. I'm pleased to say that the member for Watson has done that every step of the way. The member for Watson was honest. He was forthright. He acted with utmost integrity in all our negotiations. We didn't all get what we wanted, but he made sure that we were honest with one another, that we held our hands out to each other and that we would walk out of this place having delivered something that was historic for this nation. This nation should be proud that we have a parliament that works, a parliament that will ultimately deliver a plan for the Murray-Darling that has never been done before.

I'm proud to say that the member for Watson is the architect of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan—something which he should be profoundly proud of. I'm proud to say that I have been here to deliver it. I'm proud to say that I put my hand out, he's taken it, and this parliament will now deliver the certainty to the two million Australians who have been impacted, who have been fatigued, by this issue for so long. Today we give them certainty. So, to those opposite, I say: thank you for the honesty and integrity that you have shown. I say to this nation: you should look at this parliament and see that it does work. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.