Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, they want good government, and that is exactly what we have been delivering for them in South Australia for the last eight years. I am very confident that in 10 days time we are going to continue to do that. But what they want is water, Senator Humphries. They want water because they have not been getting a fair share of it and because there was an overallocation under your government. There was 12 years of inaction on the issue of water generally. They want us to fix the problem. They want more water. They particularly want water for the Lower Lakes. These are World Heritage sites, some of the most beautiful and pristine parts of the country. I know Acting Deputy President Bishop is very familiar with the area because he spent a lot of his childhood in that region. He will know how pristine that area is. He will know how important the issue of water is. He would be very concerned—if he knew about it—about what Mrs Redmond was doing and what Mr Macfarlane was saying about the issue of water.

South Australians want the water issue fixed, but they want somebody who is going to deal with it seriously. They do not want stunts. They do not want somebody to turn up to Canberra unannounced, without any discussion with either their colleagues or the government. What they want is somebody to seriously take this issue up on their behalf. Of course, there is only one government that is seriously going to do that in South Australia, and that is the Labor government. Very importantly, that government works very closely with what we in Canberra would consider to be the opposition. In South Australia the Minister for Water Security is Karlene Maywald. She is a member of the National Party. She is the only member of the National Party in the state parliament. She is serious about water. If she wants to come up to Canberra she does not just hop on the first plane and arrive here unannounced, having had no discussions with the government or the opposition, and just expect everybody to drop everything and come and talk to her. That is not the way it works. South Australians would be very concerned to know that somebody who wants to take on the top job in South Australia behaves that way. I have no objection to Mrs Redmond coming to Canberra; that is fair enough. But you do not turn up unannounced. If you are serious about a topic, if you want the government—or, for that matter, the opposition—to take you seriously on an issue, then you have to— (Time expired)

Question agreed to.