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

My question is addressed to the Prime Minister. Would the Prime Minister update the House on progress on the government’s National Water Initiative? How will this help the Australian environment and contribute to the prosperity of regional communities? Is there an alternative approach, and what is the government’s response?

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Barker for his question. I know how he and all other South Australian members, particularly on this side of the House, care about the health of the Murray-Darling Basin. He will recall the agreement that was reached last Friday between me, the premiers and the Chief Minister of four of the jurisdictions. I am very hopeful that the Victorian government will see that the interests of the people of Victoria are served by Victoria’s also joining in the historic commitment by the Commonwealth of an extra $10 billion to secure the health of the Murray-Darling Basin for decades into the future.

The plan that I put forward on behalf of the government, and which is supported by New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, is a balanced plan that tackles the fundamental problems of water security. It is not a knee-jerk reaction to the problem of water security. It is not an ill thought through response to the water crisis that Australia faces. Rather, it is a carefully thought through, well-crafted proposal that addresses the seepage and wastage of water in the irrigation system and the problem of overallocation.

The member for Barker asked me whether there are any alternative proposals. I saw an alternative proposal this morning emanating from the National Secretary of the Australian Workers Union, president of the Victorian branch of the ALP and endorsed Labor candidate for Maribyrnong—a man often touted as a future leader of the federal parliamentary Labor Party—Mr Bill Shorten. Yesterday he called for cotton and rice growers to be forced out of business and for their water intensive crops to be replaced by less thirsty options such as hemp. Bill Shorten is now adding the workers in the rice and cotton industries to the Labor Party’s hit list of the workers in the uranium and coal industries.

It is not enough for the member for Kingsford Smith to say that there cannot be an unlimited expansion of the uranium industry. It is not enough for the member for Kingsford Smith to be evasive when it comes to the future of the coal industry. Now we have Bill Shorten, who is coming to Canberra and has Labor preselection for a seat the Labor Party has now held for decades and who is often touted as a future leader of the Labor Party. The fascinating thing is that he is the secretary of the union whose members would lose their jobs if the rice and cotton industries were put out of business.

Let me make it very clear: this country needs balanced agriculture. It needs balance in its water security policies and it also needs balanced agriculture. That means that you need perennial crops like horticulture and annual crops like rice and cotton. This idea that you get rid of one of them in the name of saving water is ludicrous. What you do to save water is introduce proper pricing policies and a proper trading system, as postulated by the National Water Initiative; invest $6 billion in piping and lining the irrigation systems of Australia; and allocate $3 billion to deal with the problem of overallocation, where necessary by structural adjustment. Bill Shorten is a menace to the job security of workers in the rice and cotton industries—

Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He is not even here yet and you’re attacking him. You must be really worried!

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Melbourne Ports should remember yesterday’s warning.

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

just as the Australian Greens and those in the Australian Labor Party who would cuddle up to them are a menace to the job security of people in the uranium and coal industries of Australia.