Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law) Share this | Hansard source

As I indicated earlier, the government is not going to support the amendment of Senator Xenophon. I think the critique of Senator Wong—particularly the comment about her lacking the courage or the will—is wrong, and I am sure that when I outline this senators will come to the same conclusion. I indicate that there were discussions, as Senator Xenophon has indicated, between him and the government. The principal issue was one of practicality. Just because you say you want to spend a billion or two tomorrow does not mean you can actually do it tomorrow.

The principal issue was one of practicality. The summary—it is only a summary—of the expenditures that I am going through, and the program, indicate this government’s commitment to a range of initiatives in respect of the Murray-Darling. There were extensive discussions between Senator Xenophon and the government but unfortunately they have not proven successful.

I will just make this other point, which came up earlier. This very, very important fiscal package cannot deal with every issue in the one package. We had a discussion earlier about infrastructure. There is a crying need for infrastructure expenditure in Australia, and we have outlined a process, through Infrastructure Australia for dealing with that. That set of legitimate concerns is being dealt with, as legitimate concerns about the Murray-Darling that Senator Xenophon has—I think all senators share them, not just those in South Australia—are being dealt with in other programs and in other ways. We cannot resolve every issue facing Australia—particularly long-term investment issues which require the expenditure of sums of money and require proper planning and delivery—by including them all in this package.

The government has made good progress in securing Australia’s long-term water supplies. We have worked to improve the health of our rivers and secure the future of our irrigation communities. There is some $3.1 billion to be invested in purchasing water entitlements and $5.8 billion in modernising irrigation infrastructure. We have also put in place landmark new laws to enable a new independent authority to implement the first ever basin-wide plan, which will end over 100 years of mismanagement.

We also understand that climate change means that we need to diversify our water supplies so that we reduce our reliance on rainfall. The government has purchased water for rivers and wetlands in the Murray-Darling Basin for the first time ever. We have already secured 23 billion litres of water entitlement through our first tender. Our action to help New South Wales purchase Toorale Station—forgive my pronunciation—will return an average of some 20 billion litres to the Darling River system.

The government has secured a historic referral of powers from states and passed legislation to deliver the first ever basin-wide plan in 2011. The government has committed projects worth $3.7 billion across the Murray-Darling Basin to improve water efficiency in irrigation, including some $320 million for the Lower Lakes. The government has delivered the $250 million national rainwater and greywater initiative, which helps households save.

Senator Xenophon wants the government to dramatically compress the Murray-Darling Basin Water Purchase Program by bringing forward $3.1 billion. In requesting this he knows, I believe, that the government has made significant progress and broken new ground in delivering much-needed reforms and in making the investments that for so long have been neglected. Let me explain that the Rudd government—