Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Corporate Governance and Responsibility) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Heffernan says it was not magical, and so I ask this: when the response was signed off, was someone lying? Was someone misleading the Senate? If it is the case that you were already planning to do your big $10 billion initiative, which you say was not cobbled together very quickly, how is it the case that the parliamentary secretary agreed to have a response to a report tabled that did not reflect the government’s position? I suggest that the reason is that that was your position then but your position, after a significant period of public debate and public discussion about the water crisis that is affecting so much particularly of southern Australia—