Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Chair. I think that it is important to get on the record, in view of the amendment and because the government is not supporting it, why we are not supporting the amendment. Also there were some unfounded remarks made about my colleague Senator Wong. To date the government’s water purchase tenders have proved to be very successful. As a result of water purchase tenders conducted from February to May 2008, the Commonwealth has so far settled purchases for more than 23 billion litres of entitlements, worth $32.9 million. Completion of a further $4.5 million of purchases from this first tender round has been deferred until the issues preventing the approval and settlement of these trades can be overcome. In terms of the current southern basin tender and the recently concluded first northern basin tender, the department has received a large number of new offers to sell water from across the Murray-Darling Basin. In conducting these tenders the department directs prospective sellers to publicly available sources of market information. Sell offers are assessed against prevailing market prices so that the impact of the water market is minimised.

Entitlements are purchased that have the ability to provide water in a catchment when scientific evidence indicates that water needs to be recovered. The department also continues to liaise with groups of irrigators who are considering selling their water entitlements. Irrigator-led group proposals will be assessed by the department for value for money once a formal proposal supported by both the irrigators and their irrigation water provider is received.

As for water infrastructure—and I am summarising this for the Senate; I want it understood that I am not going to go through all the work that Minister Wong and this government are doing—Senator Xenophon wants the government to bring forward $2 billion for water infrastructure projects under the government’s $5.8 billion Sustainable Rural Water Use and Infrastructure Program. Up to $3.7 billion in funding for Murray-Darling Basin state priority projects and private irrigation projects was agreed in principle in July 2008. For the most part, this funding will roll out once due diligence assessments on the specific projects are complete. Consultations with basin states on the special detail of the priority projects are now well underway. The basin states are at various stages of scoping the detail of the projects. It is expected that both off-farm and on-farm opportunities to improve water management and efficiency will be included in many of these priority projects. Two projects are already underway—the pipelines urgently required to supply irrigation and potable water to communities in the Lower Lakes region of South Australia.

I could go on to the Senate about what is happening in this area but suffice to say that the government’s contention is that if you agreed to bring all the money forward to tomorrow it is not practical to spend it in this way. There is an enormous amount of work being done and, in the context of my ministerial colleague Senator Wong, I believe that she has worked very thoroughly and effectively to deal with these issues. But they cannot be solved in one year; it does take a number of years. There is a practical element in bringing forward the expenditure. Everything that can practically be done to address these issues is being done and Senator Wong, as I say, is focused on these particular issues.

It seems reasonable to conclude that Senator Xenophon has indicated, should this amendment not be passed—and I think it is a reasonable conclusion that this amendment will not be passed because the government is not supporting it and the opposition have indicated they are not supporting it—that he will therefore be voting against the third reading of the bill. The vote will then probably be tied—and I do not want to pre-empt the outcome. If that is the case, this $42 billion stimulus package will be defeated. I have made the point on a couple of occasions already that this would be, I think, the first country in the world, where stimulus packages are being considered by their parliaments, that a stimulus package has been defeated. From that, obviously, would flow a range of consequences, not least considerable uncertainty. I would make one last appeal to Senator Xenophon—and I have not had an indication from Senator Fielding of his position.

The government is dealing with other issues, such as water and infrastructure, in other ways. This is a $42 billion package to stimulate and underpin the economy in the context of the financial and economic crisis that is rapidly emerging. Not every solution to every issue in Australia can be dealt with in the context of this package. But the government is taking every step it can to address these challenges, and that is the reason for delivering the Nation Building and Jobs Plan.

We are facing a global recession. There is a global recession and we cannot afford to wait and wait and wait. It has been suggested by the Liberal-National parties that we just ‘wait and see’. How long do we wait and see before things get successively worse? And there is no doubt that the state of the world economy will get worse. You have only got to see the number of jobs being lost in other countries; every month it is increasing across a whole range of countries.

We have had lengthy debates, there have been Senate committee inquiries and there have been lots of discussions, but the time has come to support this package of legislation and support the passage of the bills. We have had the support of a range of organisations. The IMF, the International Monetary Fund, has stated the reason we need stimulus packages:

Above all, adopt clear policies and act decisively … Delays in financial packages have cost a lot already. Further rounds of debate will stoke uncertainty and make things worse.

I think Senator Xenophon should think about this. Further uncertainty, further delays—things will get worse. I would certainly urge the Liberal-National parties to have some regard for this. Things will get worse. That is the view of the International Monetary Fund. But, unfortunately, the Liberal-National coalition has continued to ignore a whole range of credible evidence from the International Monetary Fund, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Western Australian Liberal Premier—and, I notice, Rupert Murdoch recently indicated the need for a stimulus package.

Should this package fail to be supported, we will be the first country in the world to end up with a zero fiscal stimulus package, it having been rejected by our parliament. We would be the first country in the world. Given the rapidly changing and deteriorating world financial and economic situation, that would be irresponsible. There needs to be greater certainty. Times demand this from elected governments.

The package includes a $28.8 billion investment in our schools, roads and homes. It is time to support a $12.7 billion boost to consumption so we can support jobs now. The government is determined to take this action, as other governments around the world have been determined to take action and pass their particular packages. It is time to support this Nation Building and Jobs Plan. It is a targeted stimulus package, with more than two-thirds of it invested in building things that will make Australia a better place. It invests $14.7 billion in our children and their schools. It invests $6 billion in the construction of approximately 20,000 new public and community homes. And there are a range of other initiatives.

The world is facing the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. It will bring declining economic growth and it will bring job losses, and we cannot afford to wait around, debating ad infinitum the particular add-ons, when these issues are being addressed in other ways—in other pieces of legislation. This package is critical. The Senate should pass it now. We should not be engaged in political games. The national interest and the economy should come first.