Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

You say it is crocodile infested. I think it is a wonderful part of the world. Through you, Mr Acting Deputy President, I do not know whether Senator Back has had the privilege of being up there. It is a fantastic part of the world. Get up there, mate. Have a look around and meet some of the constituents. As I said, the Ord River enters to Carr Boyd Ranges just south of Kununurra. Lake Argyle is the largest freshwater storage in mainland Australia. It has a storage capacity of almost 11,000 million cubic metres of water—enough to fill Sydney Harbour nine times. I am told that in the wet season that expands to a capacity that would fill Sydney Harbour 22 times. This is a vast resource. The existing Ord River Irrigation Scheme takes a very small percentage of the available water. We would be foolish to ignore the huge potential agricultural resource we have in the Kimberley area of Western Australia.