Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Ludwig says that Minister Garrett is treating this matter in a transparent fashion, but that is just not so. The motion yesterday called on Mr Garrett to release the draft report from the Queensland Coordinator-General so that the public could have a look at it and the government and the minister are steadfastly refusing to do that. Moreover, there is no commitment to the final report being a matter for public comment either.

However, in the Queensland parliament the Premier, Anna Bligh, has made these very injudicious comments about the potential extinction of the lungfish, the Mary River turtle and the Mary River cod—because of farmers, for goodness sake. She was coming up with this extraordinary logic—hillbilly logic—which says that, if the dam is put there, it will help these species and that flooding the farmlands will prevent the impact that farmlands may have on the species. I have a certain regard for Premier Bligh. She did not think that up; she was given it as advice and she did not take time out to think about before she got to the floor in the Queensland parliament and put it forward. She did the case for destroying those farmlands no good at all.

It is perfectly reasonable to ask the minister for the environment to say whether he is entertained or influenced by the statements being made in Queensland. This is a public debate. The other ministers in this parliament had no problem putting their point of view in a public debate like this. Why on earth the minister for the environment is the one who is self-nobbled, I do not know.

Question agreed to.