Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—In question time in response to a question from Senator Birmingham I indicated I would make a statement subsequently today. I had intended to do so at the time for ministerial statements on the order of business but that would make that subsequent to the MPI, which creates timetabling issues, so I thought it might be useful to do so now.

Last week the government opposed a motion for a Senate order for me to produce departmental documents relating to management options for the lower lakes. The government did so on the basis of extensive precedents including those set by the previous government where advice to government of a similar nature—that is, for the purposes of government’s deliberative processes—had not been provided on the order of the Senate. Those opposite cannot possibly take issue with that. The Senate will recall many similar instances from those in the previous government, such as Senator Hill, who declined on 24 September 2001 to provide documents on the basis that:

The documents are in the nature of, or relating to, opinion, advice or recommendation obtained, prepared or recorded in the course of, or for the purposes of, the deliberative processes involved in the functions of the government ...

In addition, I will draw on advice to the Senate from Senator Ian Campbell, who, on 28 June 2001, said:

Disclosure of such documents would discourage the proper provision of advice to ministers. Were the government to disclose such information, it may prejudice the future supply of information from third parties to the Commonwealth.

On this basis the government remains opposed to the order and I do not propose to make available departmental advice through Senate order. However, senators would be aware that I have provided a great deal of information to the public about the various serious situations in the lower lakes and the Coorong. This is because the government believes it is in the public interest for people to understand how serious the situation is. It is in the public interest for people to understand how the situation has developed so that we can have the best hope of dealing with it and avoiding these dire situations elsewhere in Australia. It is in the public interest for people to know what can be done about the situation so that we can have an informed debate, understanding what our decisions mean for Adelaide’s drinking water supply, for our irrigators, who provide much of the nation’s food and fibre, and for our precious environment.

I am grateful for the keen interest of the Senate in these issues and I also welcome the opposition to this important discussion, although their interest seems to have coincided with the current Mayo by-election. Our task is now to move forward, but we will need to understand history in order to move forward and avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. Through the Senate inquiry process the government will facilitate informed discussion by providing information on the situation in the lower lakes and the Coorong and the ways in which we can move forward. The Senate can be assured that it will have available to it the information it requires to have proper consideration of the future of the lower lakes and the Coorong.

I can advise the Senate that I will be providing a submission to the Senate inquiry later today on the current situation facing the lower lakes and the Coorong. This submission outlines the options as at June and takes into account developments that have occurred in recent months. Given the strong public interest in the situation facing the lower lakes and the Coorong, I would expect the Senate inquiry to make the information I am providing today available to the public. Thank you.