Bob Katter (Kennedy, Katter's Australian Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There was a very foolish initiative by the federal government which allowed the contamination of the Great Artesian aquifer. People are ignorant of the history of our nation, but there were not many people living in inland Queensland and, to a lesser extent, inland New South Wales, because there was no surface water. That was most certainly true of Queensland and to a lesser extent in New South Wales. We dug a hole in the ground and up came water from the Great Artesian aquifer. There is only a population, a wool industry and a cattle industry as a result of the Great Artesian Basin. For a government to have allowed the contamination by a foreign corporation of the Great Artesian aquifer is absolutely disgraceful. The person that stood up and fought this battle is Shane McCarthy, a very great Australian. Not only did he fight the battle and win the battle against the pollution and poisoning of the artesian aquifer but he also was the great hero and, arguably, the instituter of the first dam scheme in 30-odd years of Queensland history.

If my electorate were a separate nation, I would represent more water than any other nation on earth per area of land. It's the wettest part of Australia, yet we have no water because— (Time expired)