Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Yes. I am aware, as I think all Australians are, of the floods which occurred in the period to which you refer and of the effect on river communities, including in South Australia—as Senator Ruston would attest to—as a consequence of those floods. What I would also say is that I also, like many other South Australians, would go down to near the Murray mouth, and there was a lot of water coming through, a lot of pollution, obviously, and a lot of topsoil. It was a really difficult time, I think, for people both downstream and upstream, as a consequence of those floods.

I think Senator Watt will be able to speak more broadly about the flood response from the Commonwealth government. Certainly, it was a very difficult time for many communities.

However, that doesn't obviate the policy point, which is we know the Murray-Darling Basin Plan hasn't been delivered by those opposite. And we know that, over 10 years, the divisions which are now on display in the coalition, as between the National Party and some parts of the Liberal Party, particularly those from South Australia, meant that that plan was not delivered. We now have those opposite intent on wrecking a plan that they undermined whilst in government; that is the hard reality.

What I also would say—