Mark Coulton (Parkes, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The problem is that the member for New England somehow lifted the expectations of the people in the Caroona area, an area that is divided between his electorate and mine, and there was a great expectation that somehow his amendment was going to save the day when in actual fact his amendment was more about grandstanding. The people who are suffering are the good farmers on the Liverpool Plains. While it pains me considerably that these people are suffering as such, it is my duty as their representative in Canberra to actually support legislation that will benefit them. Unfortunately, the member for New England’s amendment does not do that. I will reiterate: what the people on the Liverpool Plains want in the Caroona area and now the Watermark area is a hydrological study. I believe that we should have a study of the entire Namoi Basin on the flood plain area to assess the situation before any further exploration or mining takes place.

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