Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I present the second interim report of the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee on the integrity of the water market in the Murray-Darling Basin.

Ordered that the report be printed.

I move:

That the Senate adopt the recommendation contained in the second interim report to extend the time for the presentation of the report of the committee 29 November 2018.

I am going to take the 10 minutes allocated to me to make a contribution to the Senate that I didn't think I would ever have to make, but unfortunately I have been pushed to this. In three months time, I will have served on this committee for 13 fantastic years. From the time I first came in here to being a fully-fledged member, I have chaired either form of the committee, being legislative or references, for 10 of those years and I have always tried to do the best in the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee for those in the regions who are our food producers, whether they be farmers, horticulturists, graziers, aquaculturalists, viticulturists—whatever. With the fantastic cooperation of former Senator Heffernan as chair and now with Senator Barry O'Sullivan as chair, I have always put the interests of the nation first. I am proud to say that this is one of the few committees in the Senate that does everything to keep the political crap out of our investigations and not play stupid little games where certain political parties can run off on tangents when there is an election. Most of the time we have been successful. Unfortunately, a few times, the standards have slipped. I have always been mindful that when we tour the regions or we invite those from the regions—and not just the regions, but if it is agriculture, transport or regional affairs—everyone gets a fair hearing and we appreciate their input.

We have an unwritten agreement amongst the committee. The committee has a magnificent group of senators, even though not all of them are permanent members of the committee. We've had senators come in and out who have skills in certain parts of the committee, like transport or agriculture, and we value their input. But what I cannot tolerate is when the blow-in will come in and try to tip upside down the fine work of the committee. I am going to the crux of the matter. We are doing the Murray-Darling inquiry, and, so it is very clear to each and every person listening, I don't give a fat rat's backside about the accusations of certain bad dealings of certain members of certain parliaments—I don't care. The work of our committee is to get up and down the Murray-Darling and find out how we can improve the lot for those who rely on the Murray-Darling to feed us. Other forums will investigate the accusations of water theft, and I'm not going off at a tangent here, because we know it all started after a 7.30 report or a Four Corners report. We don't care. We want to be able to go back after taking evidence from those who it matters to. And when I say 'those who it matters to', I don't mean members of parliament in other states.

We had a fantastic start to this inquiry; we spent two days in Broken Hill. This goes to show how fair dinkum we are in the Broken Hill region. I'm from Perth. I've got no problems going to Broken Hill to meet with the people that this affects in Broken Hill. I have got no problem with my fellow senators—Senator Gallacher, Senator O'Sullivan and Senator McAllister, who was with us as well, and Senator McCarthy from the Territory—because it needs to be done. We warmly welcomed the opportunity to sit in the bus all day as we visited the Menindee Lakes and the surrounding suburbs and met with the people that live and breathe this stuff. We saw the demise of grapevines and all things that had happened, and we saw the Darling River at its lowest point. But we had a senator—and I'll tell you who it is; it is Senator Sarah Hanson-Young—who had absolutely no interest. She didn't give a darn about the people that were affected, but there was an election coming up in South Australia, and she wanted to showcase. She wanted to show-pony and carry on. She never turned up to a meeting. She didn't turn up to Broken Hill. She didn't come on the bus to the Menindee Lakes and the surrounding area to hear from the people. No, no; that's too hard. But she turned up in Adelaide for our South Australian hearing to show-pony and carry on.

I'll tell you what happened and I'll go to the crux of it. This is my unwritten rule in the committee that I have always had and lived by, and I've been ably supported by all other senators. The last thing I want to hear is from politicians. When we visit the communities and the regions, we want to hear from the people. If a politician wants to come in and have a rant or a rave or even a contribution, they can do that through other means. They can do that through their local rag or through their billboards. I don't care. It's not for us; we want to talk to the people. But one certain member of parliament wanted to come storming in. He wanted to come to the inquiry, and we said: 'With the greatest respect, Minister, we don't have politicians, but we do want to hear from your department. We want to hear from the experts.'

To cut a long story short, he thought he was clever. He turned up; he didn't get to say anything. We voted unanimously as a committee, although some didn't like my ruling. I am ably backed up by the senators who were on that committee doing all the hard yards with their sleeves rolled up and not show ponies who float in to a capital city for a four-hour rant or just so they can get a photo. The worst part that came out of this, I'll tell you right now, is that I've been trying to work behind the scenes with Senator Hanson-Young to try and resolve this and to avoid this situation. But, when a senator walks into our committee and then walks outside to the waiting media and accuses me, Senator Gallacher, Senator McCarthy, Senator O'Sullivan and crew of running a protection racket for the Nationals, I've got to tell you, then I will take offence. And that is what happened.

Behind the scenes, I desperately tried to work with Senator Hanson-Young. I said, 'Let's fix this up quietly.' My deputy chair, Senator O'Sullivan, spat the chewie. I tell you, the dummy came flying out of the cot, and he was off. He recused himself from the committee, and I don't blame him, because he is a Nationals senator. He doesn't want to hear that rubbish, the same as I wouldn't want to hear that rubbish against a Labor senator, when we were trying to take the proper evidence to come up with a good report on how we can help the farmers up and down the Murray and all those who rely on it for survival and producing food for us. Unfortunately, with Senator Hanson-Young, there is form here; there is absolute form. She can come screaming down here, and she can tell me I'm wrong. You know, Senator Hanson-Young, that I tried to work behind the scenes so we could avoid this. Fortunately, I can say, the government senators are back in the tent. The government senators have recommitted because they can see through the nonsense too, and they can speak for themselves, alongside the Labor senators. We will continue this fine work because there's nothing worse.

At Broken Hill, we had the Mayor of Brewarrina who came all the way down—and I haven't driven from Brewarrina to Adelaide, but I know it's a long, long way and there are a few aeroplanes and whatnot—to come and present to us. What we actually said in Broken Hill was, 'Mate, we really want to hear from you.' This man's got a lot to say. He's been elected the mayor, for crying out loud; he's not self-appointed. But we wanted to show respect for the people of Brewarrina, and we said: 'Stop! We'll come to you. We'll come up. We'll meet you and we'll meet people that might not agree with you. We'll meet your community. You can show us; you can tell us.' That is the way the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee operates. It has operated like that for the 13 years I've been here, and it will continue to operate that way for however many more years I am here. I can guarantee it. And I know my fellow senators all have that same feeling. Anyway, there will be others to speak, but I want to make this very clear, from some reports out there.

I bet you Senator Hanson-Young doesn't turn up at Brewarrina. Senator Hanson-Young, I bet you don't turn up to any meetings. You haven't turned up to any meetings since. You didn't turn up to any meetings before. I know we won't see you. The South Australian election has come and gone. I'm not interested in how the Greens went there either. We'll continue to roll our sleeves up. We'll continue to do the hard work. I just want to make sure, when senators are making statements to the community. Senator Hanson-Young is not a full-time member of the committee. In fact, I can't remember the last time Senator Hanson-Young has been on one of our inquiries. She would've been earlier in her career. I haven't seen her around the agriculture or transport sphere for years.

Anyway—to get back to where we're going—we intend to develop a final report. We intend to give the minister every opportunity. The voices of the bush will be in our reports, and other forums can worry about other things that there are accusations against. It's just sad that it gets down to this, if this is the type of senator that we're now starting to put in, if those young ones out there think that this is clever—if you admire people that come in, you admire people that go to the media, and you admire these senators who tell blatant lies about committees. I tell you what: there are 75 others of us in here who do not operate like that. There are another 75 of us from a number of political parties who will continue to do the work that we were elected to do to represent our communities, our states and the industries which our inquiries are looking into.

I think that, before I go off into a real tailspin, I will leave it at that. I will not be daunted by one show-ponying senator who had nothing better to do that morning than to try and grab a headline.