Cory Bernardi (SA, Australian Conservatives) Share this | Hansard source

I'm getting the 'Hear, hears' from a section of the chamber where I don't normally get them. Lest anyone thinks I've jumped into the Green brine, I haven't. When I look at the river, I see a river, I see trees and I see aquatic life, but I also see communities and agriculture, and I see them as necessary. It is necessary for there to be a balance there. So I'm not jumping into the extreme Green bandwagon; I just want to clean up the system to make sure that it is working for all of us and that our political system is working as it should. That's why if the Greens do introduce their proposed amendment, which is about restoring even more flows to the river, I won't be supporting that amendment, because I just don't think it is productive. I don't think it takes into account the importance of the communities and the vital role that agriculture and irrigation play not only in our economic lifeline for Australia but as the very lifeblood of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people who love their communities they live in and want to see them prosper. I want to see them prosper too, but I don't want to see allegations of corruption remain unresolved before we make decisions that we really can't go back on.

So I won't be supporting the amendment, but I find myself in the awkward position where I can't be satisfied that my initial concerns have been resolved in order to support this bill. I acknowledge it will go through. I acknowledge that there may be many great minds—better minds than mine—who understand the system better than me. It may be entirely accurate that this won't have any impact on the river system, or it may not. I will accept their judgement, but what I cannot get out of my mind and cannot allow to go unresolved is the deep, deep concern that something stinks in this whole process. Something stinks in the way the northern basin has been managed. It stinks at the state level. It stinks at the federal level. It stinks at some of the community levels. That needs to be resolved.

I would suggest to the government, if they want to build some trust and if there's nothing to hide, that they get out of the way and stop trying to impede the South Australian royal commission into what has gone on. It's not so much about the water, let me tell you. It's about the system, it's about the processes and it's about what we are turning a blind eye to. That is what concerns me. If Senator Ruston in her summing-up remarks would like to address the reason why the Commonwealth is stepping in to impede the royal commission, I would welcome that, but I understand it's not you, Senator Ruston, so perhaps it's wrong to put you in the hot seat. I should put this to the water minister himself. There is something wrong, and I think many people know that instinctively. That's why I can't support this bill. It's going to get through. I will vote against it, because I think there is too much at stake here to make these decisions without final resolution of the concerns that have been raised by me, by Four Corners, by many people in the river communities and by many in other parliaments around the country.