Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on behalf of the Labor Party on this disallowance motion and make clear that Labor will be voting to disallow this instrument. We do so because we support the plan; in fact, we're the party that delivered the plan. It was Labor that delivered the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in government and it is Labor that will fight today to save that plan—the whole plan, the entire plan—for all Australians.

It's useful, I think, to have a little bit of history when it comes to the plan, because it was a long time in the making, in many ways a century in the making. It was agreed only after 11 weeks of negotiations by governments right across the basin, and it was the first time that all basin jurisdictions had come together and agreed to manage the basin coherently.

I went back and looked at the Advertiser articles from that time—written, actually, by the much loved Greg Kelton—and the paper remarked at the time:

Getting all the signatories to agree to the 47 points in the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Commonwealth and the states was, according to one source, "taxing".

I was the water minister in that room, in that COAG discussion with former Prime Minister Rudd, and together we brokered that deal, and I can tell you that 'taxing' doesn't even begin to describe what we had to go through to get all the states, as well as the Commonwealth, on board. But we did it; we did it as a Labor government with the support of the states.

I would make this point, notwithstanding that very impassioned speech by Senator Hanson-Young: the one party that has not supported the plan, and did not support it when we implemented it in government, is the Greens. They didn't support the plan at the time and, I have to say on this, have been happy to grandstand but have never delivered a single drop to the River Murray. When Senator Hanson-Young goes out in the media and calls on me and other Labor Party senators to stand firm on the River Murray, I would remind people listening that the Greens didn't support the plan and they've never delivered a single drop of water. They continue to lecture me and others in this place about the need to enforce a plan they have never supported. I tell you who did deliver the water, and that is the Labor government. I am proud that as water minister in that government between 2007 and 2010 I secured almost a thousand gigalitres of water for the river, something for which I have been criticised, to this day, by the National Party and various irrigation communities, perhaps even by you, Mr Acting Deputy President Williams—as you're entitled to do, but I do make that point. It was something that was hard fought and remains hard fought.

I'm also proud to be part of Labor's ongoing fight to ensure this plan is delivered on time and in full. We will not stand by and see the plan wrecked after a Labor government delivered a historic agreement, at the Council of Australian Governments, that for the first time in a century ensured all the jurisdictions along the Murray-Darling Basin were directed to one end—that is, the health of the basin. I am not going to stand by and see a plan that was delivered under legislation that a Labor government delivered wrecked by this government.

Let's understand why the plan is at risk. The plan is at risk because Mr Turnbull handed the National Party the water portfolio. He did so because, in order to secure his own job, he needed to keep Mr Joyce and his colleagues happy with a plan they did not support. It is the years of backsliding under this government, and particularly under the Deputy Prime Minister, that have brought us to this point, where this Senate is forced to disallow the instrument on the table. This was no accident. Let's remember that it is Mr Joyce who said that the plan didn't have a hope in Hades of being delivered. It is Mr Joyce who said that South Australians should move where the water is. You can't deliver half a plan, and that is fact.

We have had extraordinarily serious allegations of water theft and corruption in the northern basin. They confirm South Australians' worst fears. Yet Mr Joyce's response made it clear he had no intention of doing anything about those allegations. You know what he said? He said it's overwhelmingly an issue for New South Wales. As my friend and colleague Tony Burke pointed out:

The problem for 100 years was that the Murray-Darling Basin was treated as a state issue rather than as a complete river system. What Barnaby Joyce has said today effectively unwinds the entire reason for Murray-Darling reform in the first place.

Even worse, when Mr Joyce thought the media weren't listening, he made his contempt for the plan crystal clear. Out of his own mouth he told irrigators in Shepparton that the Four Corners expose of water theft was a plot to steal their water:

We have taken water, put it back into agriculture, so we could look after you and make sure we don't have the greenies running the show … Four Corners, you know what that's all about? It's about them trying to take more water off you …

These are incredibly serious allegations, with credible evidence of theft and corruption, and he says it's about trying to take the water off irrigators. That's the federal minister responsible for water publicly condoning water theft, for which he is responsible, and making it very clear he had absolutely no intention of backing the plan he was required by law to enforce. He was happy for the water to be diverted and to see the plan wrecked. When we are followed in this debate and in the media by Senators Birmingham, Ruston and others, who I'm sure have a slightly different view to Mr Joyce, let's remember that the people who put the plan at risk are the National Party and the people who put the National Party in charge of the plan are the Liberal Party.

Frankly, Mr Joyce's performance is simply not good enough for all of those whose lives and livelihoods depend upon the health of the Murray-Darling. The person who should shoulder most of the blame for this is Prime Minister Turnbull, because he allowed Mr Joyce to take control of water, knowing full well it was his intention to wreck the plan by walking away from the commitment to deliver the full 450 gigalitres to South Australia. We need to restore confidence in the plan, and that means ensuring what this government promised and committed to is upheld—that is, the Murray-Darling Basin Plan delivered on time and in full—and that the 450 gigalitres of water for the environment will be delivered.

The South Australian government, led by Jay Weatherill, has fought hard for that. It is a key part of the plan. We need to ensure that environmental water, paid for by taxpayers, is not simply diverted to irrigation dams. Until we can guarantee that water purchased by taxpayers gets to the parts of the river where it is needed, it is difficult for us to support the northern basin proposal. Until this government demonstrates it is serious about tackling the allegations of theft and corruption in the basin, we are not in a position to support the northern basin proposal. Let's remember that Labor put this plan in place, fought for additional water for the environment and put money on the table to make it happen. We need the plan to be delivered in full. As Mr Burke has said:

Now, you can't have a situation where the Australian taxpayer is paying for environmental water and environmental watering events being organised and that exact water is being pumped straight back into dams.

We want to make sure that the review is done comprehensively and that the rules that have created significant problems for the integrity of this whole system are dealt with at the same time.

I'm pleased to say that Labor has been in discussions with the new minister for water to try to resolve these issues. We acknowledge the challenges he faces in cleaning up the mess that has been left by the Deputy Prime Minister, and we are pleased that there are signs that this minister, unlike Mr Joyce, does appear to be interested in dealing with these issues, including the issue of water theft. But Labor cannot today say those issues have been resolved. They have not, and time has run out.

We have said the whole way through we cannot allow a reduction in the volume while it is still possible for environmental water to be pumped back into irrigation. We want the Murray-Darling Basin Plan to survive; it is the plan we delivered in government. But we cannot agree today to reducing the volume of water without the proper assurances that the basin will remain healthy and that work is delivered that addresses serious concerns around compliance. These concerns are not just ours and they continue to be aired, whether it's on Four Corners or, I think last night, on 7.30, along with other information that is put into the public arena by people who live in the basin.

We are prepared to work constructively with the government and the authority—the Murray-Darling Basin Authority—to deliver a genuine outcome. I hope this plan doesn't fall apart—we worked very hard on it for many years—but if it does, I'll tell you where the responsibility would lie: the responsibility would lie with the government that has, for the past four years, allowed the Deputy Prime Minister to wreck it for partisan interest at odds with the needs of the river and the needs of the overwhelming majority of the people who rely on the river.

This isn't just about South Australia or Queensland or Victoria or New South Wales; it is about whether our greatest river system has a future. And it is about whether there is a Commonwealth government that is prepared to act in the interests of all Australians to safeguard that river system for all, for now and for the years ahead.