Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the report from the National Water Commission from December 2004 to 30 June 2005. I was going to make a few comments in praise of statements by the federal government with regard to water issues but, before I get too positive, I will disagree with a bit of what Senator Ian Macdonald has just said with regard to the wild rivers policy of the Queensland government. I am as comfortable being critical of the Queensland government as he is but I think that is actually a quite beneficial policy, not just environmentally but long term for ensuring sustainability for the Far North of Queensland.

Having voiced that contradiction, let me turn to praising something someone from the government said. Mr Turnbull, the new parliamentary secretary who has responsibility for water policy, was reported as saying that he believed that towns and cities would be forced to use recycled water for drinking in the future because of shortages, whether they were brought on by climate change or by other things. He gave his support to the use of recycled water and the introduction of it into the drinking stream—with proper safeguards, of course. I think this is a very welcome sign from the minister.

I also note that the chairman of the National Water Commission, who was speaking at a water conference in Brisbane, which I think was earlier this week, also made a comment that recycling of water, including into the drinking stream, is workable and something that needs to be considered much more strongly. That is something that I also agree with. I think we need to be putting much more effort into this. There is no one single solution to addressing water issues, whether they be urban water shortages or water use in rural industries, but certainly in the context of urban water usage I believe recycling of water is something we could do much more, not just for drinking but also for industry and for plenty of other uses as well where the water does not necessarily need to be treated back up to such a high standard.

I have spoken before in this chamber about the vision and the political strength of the Mayor of Toowoomba, Di Thorley, and the Toowoomba City Council in their determination to look long term and to recognise that that city will simply not be able to function in a couple of decades time because of serious water shortages—they already have serious water shortages—unless they do something significant. They are planning to build a very high-quality water retreatment plant. Ironically, after cleaning the water up to a quality not just high enough to drink but high enough to use in dialysis machines, they will then put it back in the dam which will make it much dirtier again. But I guess that is part of addressing the public perception issues that are still there.

It is important that we have political leadership on these issues. I point to the very poor leadership shown by the New South Wales government in refusing to accept and examine options for recycling water purely, according to statements by people like Minister Sartor, on the grounds that people would not accept it, so they should not do it. That has to be the weakest excuse I have heard. It is worth noting, as has been pointed out, that in many respects parts of Sydney’s drinking water system already involves people consuming recycled effluent. To quote from a report from last year, when a washing machine is:

… drained in Katoomba the water eventually—

after being treated—

makes its way to taps in Richmond and Windsor ...

This is because it is treated and put back into the rivers, it flows down the rivers and goes into another catchment from which it is taken for people to drink after it has been treated again. So, in effect, it already happens and it is something that we should be doing a lot more of.

It is an area in which the Queensland government could do a lot more as well. The Brisbane City Council, instead of wasting its money on stupid road tunnels, should do something about repairing that city’s crumbling water infrastructure, which wastes enormous amounts in leakages each day. That is an area where there is a lot more to be done. Brisbane and south-east Queensland are areas that could benefit from significant investment in recycling of water, and we need to see some leadership shown at local council and state level, hopefully with the federal government kicking in support.