Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

To use an old-fashioned colloquialism: there are some strange bedfellows in this debate. Here we have the opposition leader of South Australia saying: 'We need to take this fight on the states which are upstream.' That is the Hon. Steven Marshall. The Liberal Party in South Australia is unequivocal: 'We want the full environmental flows.' Who started this blue? Barnaby Joyce. Very clearly, he has been completely spooked by the loss of the seat in Orange. He has been completely spooked. A 79-year history of only the Nationals owning that seat appears to have disappeared. He is now attempting to unwind one of the hallmarks of good parliamentary legislation: 100 years of history reduced to legislation, with a bipartisan view to do a very simple thing, and that very simple thing was to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in its entirety. This includes the additional 450 gigalitres of environmental water that the science shows is the minimum necessary amount of water diversion required to keep the Murray River healthy, flowing and the mouth open in at least nine out of the 10 years, as well as the South Australian agricultural sector and environment thriving.

I agree with what Senator Ruston said. And she does lives on the river; it is a beautiful place just outside of Renmark. As you move up the river, what you realise from a South Australian perspective is that efficiency gets worse. In South Australia, where water is precious, the environmental outcomes are better because of the infrastructure investment. Drip irrigation is the norm. All of the possible improvements that you can make in the use of water are exhibited in South Australia. But every year when I drive across the Hay Plains to Canberra, I see the open channel irrigation of the rice and cotton areas. Those features need to change. They have not been frugal with their water. There are infrastructure investments that can make their use of water much better.

It is a really sad day when the Hon. Barnaby Joyce looks at his electoral patch and says: 'Okay, I'm going to go out as the best retail politician in Australia and promise my constituents what they want.' The reality is that he is the Deputy Prime Minister, and when he did this he was acting as the Prime Minister. You cannot be a retail politician, a member of cabinet, a Deputy Prime Minister or an Acting Prime Minster and walk away from legislation of this parliament because you might be able to get a few more votes in certain electorates. That is not the way that a responsible minister in any government should behave.

Senator Joyce has form on this. It does not matter whether it is coal seam gas, it does not matter whether it is the Shenhua coalmine, when it is in a regional area and it suits his political expediency he changes the game. He leads with his foot—in his mouth, generally. He wrote the letter that caused this problem. No-one can make any apologies for the behaviour of the South Australian minister. He did what he did and he should cop what he cops for it. But that is a diversion. That is a simple diversion—and there is no pun intended there. We want the environmental flows. Senator Farrell is dead right: if you think submarines was a widely held and deeply felt issue then water and the River Murray is an even greater issue. It is a greater political issue, evidenced by the statements of the Liberal leader, who said: 'We need to take this fight on with the states which are upstream.' That is what he said on 22 November. The Liberal Party in South Australia is unequivocal: 'We want the full environmental flow.' There it is in a nutshell. We are on a unity ticket with the Liberal Party of South Australia and against this attempt by the Acting Prime Minster at the time and the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia to take electoral advantage of something that has been sorted out.

It is a difficult issue. But I believe that, with the correct application of infrastructure improvements, we can minimise any potential job losses in the areas that we are talking about. The Deputy Prime Minister has gone off on a frolic of his own. I do not believe that Senator Ruston actually agrees with his position. Senator Birmingham is there trying to defend his position. The Deputy Prime Minister is off on a frolic of his own and he needs to be brought into line, brought into gear, and put us on the right track.

Question agreed to.