Bob Day (SA, Family First Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy President Bernardi, and thank you, Senator Madigan. Personally I do not care who has the water portfolio. We have the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and an independent Senate inquiry reviewing that plan of which I and Senator Madigan are members. What I care about is that there is certainty that whoever is responsible for water can respond urgently to the circumstances in the Basin.

Water is being sold in the Murray-Darling Basin at prices as high as $300 a mega litre out of the Goulburn-Murray water area and $240 a mega litre in the South Australian Murray River at the moment. Price does matter. It may not matter to some senators in this place but, for farmers and people in the communities that depend on the river, price does matter. These prices are double what they were last year, treble what the average price has been over the last three years.

The number of drought affected areas in the Murray-Darling Basin is expanding. As has been said in this place earlier, this season's El Nino event is predicted to be worse than previous events and likely to persist until next year. Something urgent needs to be done.