Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. Water is the source of life. Nobody is more aware of that than the people of south-east Queensland. No Australian government, no Commonwealth government, has ever invested so much in water resources. The National Water Initiative was established by the Prime Minister, leading the states and territories into this important intergovernmental agreement. The $2 billion Australian Government Water Fund is funding innovative water infrastructure around Australia, including $408 million into the western corridor recycling project, which will deliver greater water security for all of south-east Queensland, including the constituents of the member for Moncrieff. The $10 billion plan, A National Plan for Water Security, is an example of the government’s long-term planning to deal with longstanding errors and to rectify longstanding mistakes—the vision in water policy that has been so lacking in state governments around Australia.

The honourable member asked me what is the alternative. If you look at Labor’s water policy cupboard you will find it is bare. When I last looked on their website there was a press release from 21 January proposing that a meeting be held. While there is not much on the website, we know that the Labor Party have form. The Leader of the Opposition, the member for Lilley and the member for Kingsford Smith have a lot of form on water. The communities of south-east Queensland have neither forgotten nor forgiven them. Take this front-page article in the Gold Coast Bulletin under the heading ‘Dam drips’: ‘These men got us into the drought mess’. And who are these smiling creatures? Mr Goss is not smiling, but the other three are smiling—Kevin Rudd, Wayne Swan and Peter Garrett.

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