Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Hansard source

I will get an answer for Senator Allison as to why the response to those Senate reports has not yet been forthcoming. I assure Senator Allison and the Senate that the government’s credentials on this subject are well established. I hope she would acknowledge that we have taken the issue of Australia’s water management very seriously. The federal government is working closely with the states. We believe that COAG and cooperative federalism are required to ensure that the mistakes in the past that have been committed by state governments—of both persuasions and without adequate knowledge of the consequences of their actions—are rectified.

We have a very serious water management issue. That is why we have appointed a parliamentary secretary for water and set up a special office of water resources and a $2 billion water fund. We are working very closely with states and local communities to ensure that Australia manages its water much better. We are all very conscious of the crisis. It is an unfortunate fact of political life that there will be a variety of grandstanding on this issue. For my part and the government’s part, an absence of politics but proof of concrete action and commitment is what is required. We are all in this together. There is lots of talk about rice and cotton farmers and things like that. Whatever you might say about them, those communities were established on the basis of water licences issued by state governments. Whole communities are now depending on those industries.

Changing the way we manage water is going to be complex and difficult. It will be difficult for rural communities, which do, as Senator Allison would know, consume some 75 per cent of the water used in this country. There is no ‘just turning off the tap’ for those communities. It has to be managed extremely carefully and sensitively. As someone who lives at the end of the River Murray in a city which is dependent for most of its water on the River Murray, I know that we South Australians on both sides of the chamber are very conscious of the importance of this issue. I will seek to ensure we get an answer to Senator Allison’s request with respect to Senate reports as soon as possible.