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

I would remind the senator that we have in fact committed $400 million to Menindee Lakes. My recollection is that some $38 million has been committed to particular projects for investigating this issue. I want to make a point about what the senator is suggesting. Senator Joyce and senators from New South Wales should hear this. If Senator Birmingham, as he outlined in his letter to me, is suggesting that no water be held at Menindee, what he is actually suggesting is that we do not reserve critical human needs—that New South Wales, Victorian and South Australian irrigators face the prospect of zero allocations next year. Is that the coalition’s policy? If it is, I suggest you had better chat to your colleagues, Senator Birmingham.