Andrew Robb (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and COAG and Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader on Emissions Trading Design) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to respond in my new capacity and acknowledge that the issue of water security has been of long-term concern for residents in the ACT and Queanbeyan. I lived in the Queanbeyan area with my family for quite a few years. I am very conscious of the significance of water and, in particular, the Googong Dam to the tens of thousands of people living not only in and around Queanbeyan but also within Canberra itself. I offer the opposition’s support for the 150-year lease and the associated agreements outlined in the Minister for Finance and Deregulation’s statement.

However, I would just like to raise a few points. Firstly, I would like to refer to one of the minister’s comments that this was one of the first matters raised with him by the ACT government after his appointment as minister for finance. It is with just a touch of cynicism that I note the announcement of this agreement just as the ACT government is going to face an election and several weeks after the agreement has been signed. Almost exactly one year ago, the former member for Eden-Monaro, and Senator Gary Humphries in the other place, announced that a re-elected Howard government would transfer ownership of the dam to the ACT government on the proviso that there was a secure allocation water for Queanbeyan. At the time, the ACT government said it was an election stunt. How things change! Also at that time, the acting Chief Minister of the ACT, Katy Gallagher, said the coalition had delivered a ‘status quo announcement’. She also said, ‘What is occurring today, that is, that the ACT government owns the Googong Dam and are supplying water to Queanbeyan, will not change.’ Given it is the status quo, it was surprising to see the ACT Chief Minister just three weeks ago refer to the agreement as ‘historic’. Again, I can feel an election coming on.

Maybe it is just because I have been around politics in this town for a fair while that I was, and will be, interested to see what actions the government takes in the lead-up to the New South Wales election, or its own re-election in 2010, regarding the allocations of water from this dam. Will the member for Eden-Monaro be forced to consider his portfolio responsibilities and the needs of the planned defence headquarters near Bungendore? Will the New South Wales government, in their desperation to cling on to power given the parlous state of affairs in New South Wales, pressure the Rudd government to give them assistance in the lead-up to their own election? Will the federal government seek to use the water from Googong in other areas once the ACT election is over and done with? Time will tell. Again, I confirm the support of this side of the House for the 150-year lease and the associated agreements that have been finalised.

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