Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

One Nation opposes Senator Hanson-Young's motion, which seeks to cling to South Australia's current share of Murray-Darling Basin water on the pretext of saving the Lower Lakes and the Coorong. This motion is based on a lie. The CSIRO has clearly established that the Coorong cannot be saved by sending water down the Murray past the top of the Coorong. The Coorong's natural refreshing flows are from the south-east. Saving the Coorong requires work that is currently underway, the south-east drains based project, to turn the man-made drains in the south-east back to their natural flow. These drains currently take water from the basin and dump it straight into the ocean, bypassing the Murray mouth. Restoring the natural flow of water will flush the Coorong and keep the Murray mouth open. This measure, on which the Greens are silent, will not only save the Coorong but it will also assist in saving the Murray mouth without taking water from the rest of the basin. Honest and better use of water in South Australia will increase production and agriculture, jobs and income.