Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

When I heard Senator Farrell get up earlier, I thought to myself, 'My conscience, it's getting to sound a little bit like Christmas!' Imagine Senator Farrell giving us the opportunity to talk about the failure of the Gillard-Rudd-Gillard governments when it came to the Murray-Darling Basin! In a moment I am going to address myself to Queensland's Senator Chisholm, through you, Madam Deputy President. I saw ex-Senator Mark Furner in the gallery earlier. What a shame he is not still there, because probably one of the only opportunities for the failed Labor government in Queensland would be to give Mark Furner a go in the leadership.

But let me go back to the Murray-Darling Basin before Senator Farrell, in his embarrassment, leaves the chamber. This is the organisation, if you recall, under the so-called brilliance of the then Gillard government, with Minister Wong at the time having the control of the purse strings—more regrettably for the Australian taxpayer as we watched national debt and deficit go through the roof. This was the Minister Wong who paid, as I understand it, some $300 million of taxpayers' money to the Kahlbetzer family, an agribusiness family on the Gwydir River for water rights. And do you want to know what, Madam Deputy President? There were no links from the Gwydir River to the Murray-Darling system! The $300 million was wasted! Squandered!

But do we think that was bad enough? No, Senator Wong, then Minister Wong, was just warming up. Then we go to the Tooralie Station at Bourke. We all know the poetry about the back of Bourke. Well, unfortunately, neither Senator Wong nor any of her advisers went out to the back of Bourke to have a look at Tooralie Station, because they paid—if you do not mind!—a cool $24 million of taxpayers' money for that station, plus the cattle. I am not sure how much they paid for the cattle. But, once again, do you want to know, Madam Deputy President, about that expenditure of $24 million for water to go into the Murray-Darling? The thing was that not only did they not go out there they did not even have a look at the map, because once again there was no link to the Murray-Darling Basin system.

So what did we find the other night in Adelaide, in advance, purely in accordance with this absolutely magnificent Gillard government plan for the Murray-Darling Basin? There is a process called sustainable diversion limits, which within the Gillard plan—probably not a bad one—was the fact that if there were likely to be any situation in which federal, state and territory ministers and others might have to review the plan at any time, there should be what is called consultation. Isn't that amazing? Consultation!

The consultation process as I understand it—and I am sure there will be a South Australian in the chamber in a few moments who can confirm this—started out with a letter from the minister with responsibility in the federal government: the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister Joyce. He wrote to the South Australian water minister, Mr Ian Hunter. In his letter to Mr Hunter he said, 'Look, what we want to do is to sit down and have a discussion—South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and the federal government—about this matter.'

So Barnaby, being the good communicator he is, followed his letter up, just in case Minister Hunter had been too busy to read it. He followed it up personally with a phone call. So when they met last Thursday night, what do you think Minister Joyce was met with? He was met with a mouthful of the most vile abuse from Minister Hunter. The words that I heard were 'threw a tantrum'. He abused not only federal counterparts but also state counterparts and staff from all jurisdictions—including his own—in the middle of a public restaurant in Adelaide. What a great way to respond to the communication!

What happened then? Of course, we have this wonderful Premier in South Australia—the bloke who cannot control his ministers and cannot keep the lights on. The only way he organises and controls a budget in South Australia is to take GST money from Western Australia. Premier Weatherill does not even have the wherewithal to actually discipline Minister Hunter.

If this is an example of the Gillard government's Murray-Darling Basin and if this is an example of the capacity of the water minister from South Australia to be able to communicate on issues of relationship, it is little wonder that South Australia cannot keep the lights on. It is little wonder that the Premier of that particular state is so incompetent that he not only cannot do his own job but cannot discipline his ministers. At the end of the day the Murray-Darling Basin is not the better for his interaction.