Ross Cadell (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

On this matter, I want to go back to the face of the New South Wales Nationals. We have a factional divide between the 'salties' and the 'freshies'. I have my southern 'freshy' National colleague with me, Senator Davey, and I am the northern 'salty'. Coming to this place as a Nat, you have to learn about water. I sat down with Senator Davey, and she unleashed this massive knowledge upon me about the history of the Murray-Darling Basin from The Nationals' perspective and what they think. I'd like to think I can take in things well, but all I was left with was that everyone upstream is stealing water and everyone downstream is wasting it. That seems to be the core. But what I do know is that this summer and next summer water will matter so much. We are taking water away from productive uses and we're taking water away from environmental uses in a way that's not properly regulated. There are things in this act that will clearly help to tighten up some things. I remember talking about this with the national inspector of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, and he said that federal legislation combined with state legislation is a mish-mash in all the layers that you'd have to be a moron to be caught. When I asked him how many morons he had caught, he said none because of this.

We know there needs to be change. I think everyone supports some change of different varieties, but you need change in information because you can't improve what you can't measure. We will see farmers killing animal in the next drought, we will see farmers' incomes taken away, we will see regional and rural communities, as Senator Hanson-Young said, without drinking water. We will see all of that. That is why this is so important. The fundamental needs of a sovereign nation are to provide its own energy, to provide its own food and to keep its people safe. If we get this wrong, our sovereignty is under threat because we won't be able to feed ourselves. We see our farmers out there suffering already with low protein prices. There is a write-up in the media about a sheep farmer in Western Australia who advertised to give away 600 sheep—give away, no money—because he didn't want to have to kill them. They're not worth anything and he couldn't look after them. These are the things we're facing across Australia. Farmers in Queensland, New South Wales, Victorian and South Australian catchments need a plan that is well-researched, that is well-thought-out, that has the agreement of the states—much like Senator Roberts said—and that can provide what we need for all our sources.

A great way of getting out of a production of documents is to create so many documents that it's just not viable. It's a wonderful way to do it. If you can create a million documents on this in 18 months—how many years will it take to filter through them at one minute a document?—how long did it take to create them? Way more than 18 months. This is the inconsistency that comes here. There are so many orders for documents in this place that are just ignored or circumvented. It is wrong. The people in our country deserve the transparency and the vision of government. There are certain things—secrecy, I get that, security and defence, I get that—but when we're making decisions about livelihood and the future, there must be clarity. Without clarity, we can't be sure it is a fair or equitable decision, or that their interests are being looked after. I said in June this year that too many people spend time governing to be re-elected and not to build a better nation. Transparency builds a better nation. Clarity builds a better nation. Accountability builds a better nation.

I urge the government and the minister to have a look at the documents, go through them. The key ones will be there. Bring them forward. We heard from Senator Hanson-Young—this bill ain't going nowhere until we get clarity and a bit of discussion. You've got the time. I'm sure that on this side—with Senator Hanson-Young and the Greens—they have vastly different opinions but they want to be able to deal with facts. They want to have certainty. They want these things, and these documents can give them those. If everyone stays strong, this bill will go nowhere until some material documents are put on the table. Australian regional towns, regional people, farmers and the environmental lands out there, deserve no less. It should be done immediately.

Question agreed to.