Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Emergency Management (Senator McAllister) to a question without notice I asked today relating to water management in the Northern Territory.

The answer was pretty disappointing. This is the federal parliament. I was asking questions of the federal government about what they will do now that they are well and truly aware of serious allegations of conflicts of interest, of water theft and of illegal land clearing in the Northern Territory. And do you know what we got from the minister? 'Well, it's up to the Territory government to run their own affairs. It's up to the states and territories. We can't do anything.' It's clear as day that the Northern Territory government are not fit to be able to manage their own water resources, to implement regulations that work and to keep their snouts out of the trough when it comes to vested interests and conflicts of interest. That's what these allegations are showing.

Cowboys are running the show in the Northern Territory. It's the wild west up there, and it is at the cost of every single Australian because water resources are precious and our environment is under threat. We have big corporations down in the Murray-Darling Basin, the big cotton growers, who have stuffed the Murray-Darling Basin. They're now moving north to rip off water and steal water in the Northern Territory—at the cost of the local community, against the wishes of traditional owners and putting our environment and climate at further risk.

And of course it's not just the big cotton growers, the big greedy cotton growers who haven't had enough of a fix in the Murray-Darling Basin so they have to move to the Northern Territory; of course, it's the cowboys in the gas and fracking industry too. They too are taking water they're not entitled to. Do you know how much the water licences in the Northern Territory cost? Zero. What an absolute crock!

It is time for federal intervention in the management of water resources and the way the environment is managed in the Northern Territory. It doesn't matter whether it's the Labor Party or the Liberal Party in the Northern Territory; they are not fit. They cannot keep their hands clean. They cannot keep legislation and regulations fit for purpose. They bend over backwards for their mates in the industry. It really does get to a point where you have to wonder how deep is this level of corporate self-interest and where are the conflicts of interest. Are we looking at allegations of corruption here? Is that what's going on in the Northern Territory? It stinks, and the locals in that community know it. They're sick and tired of being ignored.

This Saturday there is an election, and Territorians are looking at both the Labor Party and the Country Liberal Party and they know that they are not standing up for the interests of the community, the interests of traditional owners and the interests of the environment. If you care about the future of the Northern Territory; if you care about responsible spending; if you care about responsible, effective regulation, doing what is right in the interests of the community: the only option for people in the Northern Territory is to vote Green. That is the truth. It doesn't matter whether you're looking at the Labor Party or the Country Liberal Party, they're both up to their necks in self-interest, corporate interest and conflicts of interests—and you have to wonder just how deep this goes. There is corruption there and it needs to be exposed.

Question agreed to.