Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Billions of dollars, Senator Hanson-Young says—$5.8 billion, I believe. My fear—and I hope that these fears will not come to fruition, in a sense—is that, come the next drought or the next water crisis, it will be South Australia that will be disproportionately affected and disproportionately hurt by this. That concerns me. All I am asking for is some fairness and equity, and I am simply seeking in these amendments to ensure that the authority considers these issues of past efficiencies prior to 2007, when the Water Act was passed, and to ensure that there is some fairness and equity in the mechanisms in determining what cuts are to be made. So that is what I am concerned about. I understand the position of both the government and the opposition, but I think these are matters that need to be raised, that need to be talked about and that need to be on the public record. I hope I am proved wrong in years to come, but I fear that under the current plan and the current structure there will be some undue prejudice to the people of South Australia.