Patrick Secker (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I agree with you, Madam Deputy Speaker, because, of course, last Saturday the Crows were sadly robbed! An ongoing issue in my electorate is water—in particular, the lack of it. One area that is feeling particular pain is the area below lock 1, which is situated below Blanchetown. There is a stretch of about 200 kilometres of winding river below that, before it goes down to Lake Alexandrina. Lack of infrastructure has meant that valuable backwater has dried up and flows have ceased, causing irrigators who rely on that water to have reduced yields and, in many cases, to lose harvests altogether. Despite a commitment of $300 million for new on-farm irrigation efficiency grant programs to help deliver a long-term sustainable future for our irrigation communities in the southern Murray-Darling Basin, irrigators below lock 1 are being sacrificed and have yet to see developments in their area.

Portee Creek was once considered a major backwater. It is about midway between Blanchetown and Swan Reach. It had never been dry, to anyone’s knowledge, until December 2007, when flows ceased. Irrigation then ceased in February 2008 and it was completely dry by February this year. Irrigators relying on this critical backwater were led to believe after much consultation that the state government was seeking funding to build a pipeline that would allow them to water their crops and secure an income for what was shaping up as the worst season yet. The Rudd government promised $5.8 billion in programs to make irrigation infrastructure more efficient and to help basin communities prepare for their future. Unfortunately, we have yet to see any infrastructure result from this finding.

When speaking at the Murray-Darling Association national conference in Adelaide, the Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, offered nothing but excuses for why projects have not been started with the funding that was set aside by the coalition in 2007. The minister could not explain why she had still been unable to invest in any new water-saving infrastructure projects that could improve the health of the Murray-Darling. In 2008 the state government announced the $610 million Murray Futures package, which was to be funded through the Commonwealth’s $12.9 billion Water for the Future program. Included in the state government’s plan was $110 million for river industry renewal to reinvigorate irrigation communities, including through the uptake of newer and smarter irrigation technology. Irrigators below lock 1 are still waiting and many have given up. They are fed up with hearing excuse after excuse from both state and federal governments and with losing their harvest and livelihood. Irrigators want explanations and they want them now.

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