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

As the Prime Minister said, it is not really possible to accurately say whether this is a one in a 1,000-year drought, a one in 500-year drought or a one in 200-year drought. This is a very severe drought. The Prime Minister met this morning with the four relevant state premiers or their representatives to discuss how we as the federal and state governments dealing with the Murray-Darling Basin can most effectively, properly and reasonably deal with the severity of this drought and its impact on rural communities and cities like my city of Adelaide. Whether or not this particular drought is a function of the general view in relation to global warming is a matter, obviously, which everybody can have a view on. What we have to deal with is the fact of this very severe drought, and that is what today’s water summit was all about.