Marielle Smith (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The River Murray is the lifeblood of my state of South Australia, and its health is an existential question for my state, because the river's future will determine South Australia's future. The river's health will determine our health. That is why I welcome the introduction of the Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Bill in the House of Representatives last week. It is a bill that delivers on our promise to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan as it was designed and in line with the science to see the promised 450 gigalitres restored to the basin. Those 450 gigalitres are essential to the health of the river to ensure that its ecology can withstand the next dry spell. It gives us more time, more options, more funding and, critically, more accountability.

After almost a decade of sabotage by the Liberals and Nationals, that is the only way we will get there. For almost a decade, they ignored their own reports that the plan was in trouble. They undermined projects that they couldn't deliver. They stalled. They sabotaged. In South Australia, their own minister capitulated. My state cannot afford this any longer. Delivering the plan requires strong, decisive action. That is what the Albanese Labor government intends to deliver, because, without it, the lifeblood of my state is at risk. This is everything to my state.