Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water) Share this | Hansard source

I recently spent several days in Perth where I attended three extremely important desalination events and met a few of Australia's top 'desalters'.

Senator Polley interjecting—

You should not laugh at that, Senator Polley, if you do not mind. The first of these events was the official opening of the Southern Seawater Desalination Plant at Binningup south of Perth. I opened the plant on Friday, 2 September, along with the Western Australian Minister for Water, Bill Marmion. It is the second desalination plant and there has been some criticism from certain elements around the country about recent investment in desalination plants. That has particularly been the case since the flooding rains experienced last summer by much of the eastern part of Australia. But for those in the east it is easy to forget the issues faced by those in the west. Western Australia and particularly the Perth region has suffered one of its most severe, prolonged droughts in written history. Despite recent rains, water storage levels and inflows into dams in the area remain significantly lower than historical averages. The argument that desalination plants are not needed falls on deaf ears in the west, as I am sure Senator Birmingham would be familiar with.

The experience in Western Australia should serve as a lesson to those in the rest of the country. As we plan for water security in a future with less predictable rainfall and as we work to address the challenges of climate change, desalination provides a source of water that is completely independent of rainfall. In our land of droughts and flooding rains, which Senator Williams is very familiar with, desalination plants provide an insurance policy against the next extended period of lower than average rainfall. They also ease the pressure on our catchments, river systems, waterways, ground water resources and their environments.

The Southern Seawater Desalination Plant will soon produce 50 gigalitres of water per year. I am sure Senator Edwards would love to see that in the Clare region. That will mean that more than 30 per cent of Western Australia's water supply will come from rainfall independent sources. The plant's production is already being expanded to 100 gigalitres a year, matching the water coming out of the South Australian desalination plant.

The Australian government's $18.4 million investment in the plant funded work including a second seawater intake tunnel, which I saw before it was opened. Our funding is assisting the expansion process to progress as efficiently and as cost effectively as possible. When the expansion is complete the proportion of the state's water supply that is independent of rainfall will increase to about 50 per cent.

The opening of this extremely important piece of water infrastructure was very timely because it came on the eve of two other important events. On Sunday, 4 September, I again joined the Western Australian minister to open the National Centre of Excellence in Desalination, a state-of-the-art research facility—matching and complementing the centre of excellence in your home state of Queensland, Mr Acting Deputy President Furner—and the Desal Discovery Centre at Murdoch University's Rockingham campus, which is in the heart of Gary Gray's electorate.

At that event I was pleased to announce $3.8 million in Australian government funding for 11 innovative, new desalination research projects across Australia. The outcomes of these world-leading Australian projects will stretch across the globe, creating a more sustainable desalination industry. The centre of excellence's new facility will enable projects to be scaled up towards full-scale commercial solutions. The Australian government's investment in desalination research is fostering the development of new ideas and solutions to problems. These inventions and innovations will be brought to life through the desalination industry. In Australia desalination is a growing industry and one in which there are many leading lights. One of those leading lights I am very proud to say—as I am sure Senators Birmingham and Edwards would agree—is a South Australian company called Osmoflo.