John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Xenophon for his question on this important issue. At the heart of the government’s approach to water policy is the recognition that climate change means reduced rainfall. The $12.9 billion Water for the Future plan, the $1 billion National Urban Water and Desalination Plan and the $250 million National Water Security Plan for Towns and Cities will help secure new water supplies for households and businesses. I am advised that the $250 million National Rainwater and Greywater Initiative will also deliver on the key priority of using water wisely. These programs will help deal with the impacts of climate change and reduce our reliance on rainfall.

I am advised that several specific stormwater harvesting projects are underway in Adelaide, receiving almost $53 million in Commonwealth funding. They include Waterproofing Northern Adelaide, Waterproofing the South and the metropolitan major irrigators stormwater reuse project. I understand that these projects also involve water-recycling activities. Combined, these projects have the capacity to harvest up to 17 gigalitres of stormwater per year and they will be operating by 2011.

The federal government has also committed $6.55 million in funding for the Salisbury stormwater harvesting project under the National Water Security Plan for Towns and Cities. That project will have the capacity to harvest up to 6.3 gigalitres. That project will be operating, I understand, by 2012. As part of the $1 billion fund, we are establishing a $20 million Centre of Excellence in Water Recycling. I think that is to be sited in Brisbane. The centre of excellence will enhance Australia’s research and development capacity in recycling and stormwater.

Under the Raising National Water Standards Program, there is an $800,000 project underway to help decision makers assess the suitability and viability of the aquifer storage and recharge. The federal government, along with state and territory governments, has released water-recycling guidelines so that project planners can match water quality to intended uses in the safest and most cost-effective manner. In terms of the important issue of cost benefits of desalination versus stormwater, the advice I have received is that the cost benefits of different technologies vary on a project-to-project basis. In other words, while recycling might be a good option for one city, it might not work for others. I understand that the situation is the same for desalination and stormwater. (Time expired)