Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

I assume the senator is aware of what conveyance water is—I was actually asked by a senator in a division the other day what it is. It is additional water to the water that is used required to ensure delivery. So you need to release more water than you actually need at the other end, for obvious reasons, because of the losses on the way. These words were agreed through the IGA process, including with South Australia; this is a critical human need of communities around the Lower Lakes below Wellington. The Senate would be aware that we are already funding a pipeline network for those purposes to the tune of $120 million to enable towns and communities, as well as irrigators who are currently relying on the Lower Lakes, to connect to a higher point on the Murray.

Senators may be aware that earlier this month I visited that area with Premier Rann and Minister Maywald to inspect and announce the work that had already been commenced, and in fact was proceeding quite rapidly, on 130 kilometres of pipeline to supply potable water to households and properties around Langhorne Creek and Raukkan and also to the Narrung and Poltalloch peninsulas. The definition is agreed with South Australia and, in relation to the Lower Lakes and the Coorong, the critical human needs are being secured by the mechanisms, including a very substantial amount of funding, that I described.