Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Hanson, for the clarification. I'm more than happy to go to the question around what we in the Liberal-National government are doing around nation-building water infrastructure. We are getting on with the job. We're building new water infrastructure to meet the needs of regional Australia. We've committed more than $3.3 billion in funding, through the $1.3 billion National Water Infrastructure Development Fund and the $2 billion national water infrastructure loan, to build dams, weirs and pipelines. Our government has already committed more than $990 million through the fund to co-fund the construction of 21 water infrastructure projects, with a total construction value of about $1.98 billion. Funding is flowing to build projects in your home state of Queensland, as well as Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.

These vital water infrastructure projects will increase water availability to our job-producing agricultural regions and will create more than 4,600 jobs and provide access to more than 45,000 megalitres of new, secure and affordable water. Our investments in these projects will guarantee new and affordable water for regional Australia into the future and unlock the economic potential for new and expanded agriculture right across regional Australia.

In addition to bringing new water infrastructure, the government's providing more than $119.5 million for 51 studies to get water infrastructure projects off the drawing board, including more than $59 million for Urannah Dam, Emu Swamp Dam, Hells Gate Dam and Big Rocks Weir. (Time expired)