Bill Heffernan (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks very much for this unexpected pleasure. Senator Siewert, thank you for your contribution. I am sure that you believe what you say, but I do not. I think it is an absolute disgrace that somehow there would be a view around that water and climate change is a Greens issue. It is not a Greens issue at all; it is our issue. It is every Australian’s issue. You do not have to be green to believe. As to some of the things that you dated back to 2002 that suggest there has been some sort of knee-jerk reaction, I think most people know that I have been on this case since the first day I stood up in this parliament in December 1996. These things do not happen overnight, and I am very proud of the fact that the government has made a $10 billion gesture to sort out the Murray-Darling Basin. The Murray-Darling Basin has been completely mismanaged over many years by governments of all persuasions—and nothing the Greens, the Democrats or any other plaited armpit party that came along could do would do anything about it.

The government are doing something about it. There is no use in any rhetoric that returning 3½ thousand gigalitres to the Murray is going to fix the Murray when Mother Nature is going to take another 3,000 gigalitres out of the catchment of the Murray-Darling Basin. You are talking about returning 6½ thousand gigalitres to have any consequence for the environmental outflows and the long-term outlook for Mother Earth in the Murray-Darling Basin. I have to say that the states do not have the capacity to do that. They simply do not have the capacity, and people like Craig Knowles have acknowledged that to me over the years. There are a lot of people genuinely concerned. Senator Siewert is genuinely concerned. We are genuinely concerned, but we do not have to be green to be concerned.

These are issues that will not be fixed by more speeches in this place. They will only be fixed by addressing some of the things that have to be done. As Senator Campbell said to me today, the Barmah Choke could have been fixed ages ago but the Victorian government could not come up with the engineering plan to do it, or they might have funded it.

There are smart alec politics in all of this for everyone, and I hope you all have a wonderful time, but the fact remains that the government has put its money where its mouth is. It is the first government to do that, and hopefully we will fix things like the evaporation of the Menindee Lakes. The Menindee Lakes evaporate two or three times, they tell me—though I always say that for every litre they pump up the river a litre evaporates, so the water evaporates more. Everyone knows my view on the disgusting water plan of the Lower Balonne, and I was pleased to see Peter Beattie today put the kibosh on the auction of that water on the Warrego. I think he has shown some leadership on things like recycling. Certainly, I know what the federal government’s view is on the Lower Balonne—it ought to be sorted out.

I have a very strong view, as you know, on overland water harvesting: I think the system cannot stand it. I am aware and you are aware of our ‘latest’ water hearing, as you referred to it, in 2002. I have been on three of these water hearings since 2002, so to say that we have not done some homework would be a misrepresentation of the facts. I am aware that there are certainly a lot of things that we can do to improve the system. I am aware that, if we do not remove some activity from the Murray-Darling Basin, the sums are never going to add up. I am aware that climate change is going to have a detrimental effect on the rainfall and run-off of southern Australia. I am aware that there are great opportunities in the north. So I hope that you and everyone else in Australia will get behind the federal government’s determination to sort out Australia’s water issues. I had a discussion with Senator Colbeck today about the potential of Tasmania’s water. I am also aware that they do not have any idea about water trading or any other damn thing down there—but, anyhow, they have made great strides in Tassie with laser surgery.

Things like water and climate change, Senator Siewert—I was compelled to get up—are our issues. They are not the preserve of some green party or some other group; they are every Australian’s issues. All Australians ought to be informed that we are not the global culprits in climate change. Someone ought to take a camera and go to the Amazon and see what is happening in the top end of Brazil, go to China and see what they are doing there or go to India. The most telling thing of the report out of London the other day, which I do not see getting a run anywhere, is that within 50 years half of the world’s population is going to be water poor. I keep saying that 600 million people in northern China are going to run out of water not because of anything to do with climate change; they are actually mining the aquifer, which means they are mining their future food resource. These are all our issues if we are going to have a planet we can still live on.

With great respect to you, Senator Siewert, the government has shown a lot of leadership in this, and I am pleased that some of the premiers are coming on board. Perhaps Premier Rann in South Australia spent too much time dreaming with his former boss, Dunstan. Premier Rann can be a big winner out of this, and it will not be the preserve of any political party to hijack the process. It is an issue for all Australians. It is important that we all get together as a team and resolve these issues. I am sorry to have to say, Senator Siewert, that we do have the courage to put the money where our mouth is and to spend it wisely. I just hope that you are part of the solution and not part of the problem.