Michael Forshaw (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I now return to the discussion of the matter of public importance. I call Senator Xenophon.

Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no greater issue facing my state and indeed this nation than the plight of the Murray-Darling Basin. I have made this point before but I believe it is worth repeating now: governments do not own the rivers. They do not own the lakes and they do not own the environment. They are simply custodians of these natural treasures.

When it comes to the Murray-Darling Basin, as custodians we have done a lousy job. For too long we have treated our rivers as some kind of aquatic magic pudding, acting as though they would always run and never run out of water. One state has paid dearly for this blatant disregard for our natural resources and that is my home state of South Australia.

I will never forget a recent trip to the Lower Lakes and the Coorong. I will always remember the region to be Storm Boy country—teeming with bird, fish and plant life—but what I saw shocked me. Where there was once life there was now a region dying a slow, salty death. The local communities have known this for some time and, as the Senate is discussing today, we also know that the situation is dire. Fortunately, in recent times, this is a reality that the federal government also accepts.

Just yesterday, the Murray-Darling Basin Commission reported that last month’s rainfall was below average, with inflows in the month of August being one-fifth of the long-term average. This is bad news but rainfall is only part of the problem. I note that the government has been keen to claim the situation facing the river is as a result of climate change. Well, yes and no. Climate change is a factor and a fact but so is overallocation and so is the failure of Federation to deal with the mismanagement of the river system.

How can we justify a situation where Victoria can hold the other basin states to ransom and how can we accept the obscene overallocation along the river, particularly for those water inefficient allocations where parochial interests have been put ahead of the national interest? That said, I believe none of this is a reason to write off the Lower Lakes. We simply cannot afford to, and recent rains, however modest, show us why we should not. Even though this winter has seen the fifth-lowest rainfall in 177 years, that rain has still led to a small rise of some 20 centimetres of the water level in Lake Alexandrina, and just this small amount of water has made a real difference. Communities down there have come alive with hope because they see that even a small amount of water could save the lakes from a salty death. I believe the Lower Lakes are more resilient than we give them credit for. If we do not act now to save this wonderful part of our world, future generations will judge us harshly, as they should.

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The time for the debate has expired.