Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The enormous challenges faced by Australia in the last 12 months—in fact, few years—are unprecedented, from extensive drought to terrifying bushfires and a global pandemic. The efforts and attention of all levels of government and many sections of society have been drawn together over the last few years to support hurting communities. Meanwhile, a number of ongoing issues have taken a back seat, including one that has serious implications for Australian industry, food production and the environment. I speak of the management of water resources in the Murray-Darling Basin.

The Murray-Darling Basin is an extraordinarily complex system, and solutions to the challenges we face require extensive intergovernmental cooperation, stakeholder consultation and compromise. Since beginning my term in government, I have been listening to local voices, industry and organisations about the various challenges posed by the current system, and I've heard some creative solutions. Recently, I convened a teleconference roundtable discussion with the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia, Keith Pitt, along with the stakeholders in the water space, including growers, industry peak bodies and water management authorities.

We discussed issues such as water trading, including inter-valley trading rules, and deliverability challenges that pertain to the Barmah Choke. Many involved in the roundtable, myself included, were happy to hear that the minister is focused on implementing engineering solutions to manage supply and deliverability issues in the system. It was agreed that the time for politics and kicking the can down the road is over. We've seen the reports, we've heard from the experts and we've listened to the affected communities. Now is the time to take action to prevent disastrous outcomes for the basin and its communities.

Irrigators across Mallee are full of great ideas and solutions, including Danny Lee from Merbein, a retired irrigator of over 50 years experience. Danny is enjoying his retirement, but he's been keeping himself busy studying the basin. Danny is concerned about the environmental impacts caused by the unsustainable demand on our river systems and has proposed the installation of multiple new weirs as midstream storage along the Murray River to assist with controlling the flow of the river in peak times. He had many other suggestions. I have since discussed Danny's ideas and shared his written submission with the minister and my colleagues. I invite any other Mallee residents interested in water to contact me.

Last Friday, I was pleased to host Senator Bridget McKenzie in Mildura as we continued our discussions around water management in the basin. We met with Lower Murray Water, who told us about the Sunraysia Modernisation Project, a project funded by the federal government which converts open water channels to pressurised pipes. Andrew Kremor from Lower Murray Water told me that this project delivered improved irrigation reliability and access to 1,334 irrigation outlets, improving irrigation efficiencies for over 8,600 hectares of land. We also had the chance to visit Dominic Sergi's property in Red Cliffs. Dominic is a young engineer by trade and now grows a variety of table grapes. Dominic is an example of the bright minds working in agriculture and horticulture in Mallee. Dominic has thought long and hard about water and offered some excellent ideas about water trading and carryover. Hearing from local producers is a priority for me. I know that the expertise and knowledge is out there, and I want to learn from and collaborate with producers just like Dominic.

Senator McKenzie and I then met with Sharyon Peart and Nick Sheahan from the Mallee Catchment Management Authority, the peak body for the delivery of the natural resource programs in Mallee. Sharyon told me that the Mallee CMA is focused on getting the balance right. They do not privilege environmental concerns over the needs of producers or vice versa. They also know that producers want to get this balance right as well. They want the best for business, but they don't want to destroy the environment in the process.

Restoring balance to the Murray-Darling Basin system is crucial to the future prosperity of our nation, and listening to local voices is vital to achieving sustainable outcomes. I'd like to thank Minister Pitt and Senator McKenzie for engaging with me and my Mallee locals. I will continue to contribute to water policy that ensures balance between our environmental goals and our commitment to delivering sustainable water to producers and our local communities.

House adjourned at 20:00 until Friday, 12 June 2020 at 09:30, in accordance with the resolution passed on Wednesday, 10 June 2020.