Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia (Senator Canavan) and the Minister for Employment (Senator Cash) to questions without notice asked by Senators Gallacher and Cameron today relating to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and to labour market testing.

I do this reluctantly, Madam Deputy President, particularly after hearing the comments of Senator Leyonhjelm about South Australian politicians and the gratuitous attack that he launched on my home state of South Australia. But I feel I must talk on the issue and that I must respond to some of the things that have occurred in the last few hours in respect of legislative changes in this place.

This morning we saw the Nick Xenophon Team supposedly put water ahead of workers' rights by supporting the so-called ABCC legislation. Of course, as you would know, Madam Deputy President, they have made life very much harder for people who work in the building industry in this country.

But I do not want to focus specifically on that issue, rather on the so-called deal that the Xenophon group got in exchange for voting for this legislation. What the deal seems to be is that it will reduce working conditions for building workers by supporting the ABCC in return for a better deal on water in South Australia. Of course, being a South Australian, I am all for a better deal on water for South Australia—particularly for the Murray-Darling Basin. But let's look at the deal that Senator Xenophon got.

What did he get? Well, the deal is that water will now be discussed at future meetings of COAG. I will repeat that: water will now be discussed at future meetings of COAG. That is the deal that Senator Xenophon and his team got in return for reducing the conditions of building workers in this country. What I think South Australians actually wanted from Senator Xenophon and the other members of the Australian parliament was water, not words. They wanted more water, not more words. I am afraid that what we have from Senator Xenophon and his team is simply words and not water.

What sorts of things could you have got if you were in the position of Senator Xenophon and his team to negotiate this? You could have got an agreement on when the 450 gigalitres of environmental water was going to start flowing down the River Murray. You could have got some sort of agreement on the time frames for improving irrigation and water retention strategies along the River Murray. But what did Senator Xenophon and his team get? They got a promise of discussion on water at COAG. No practical results, no implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and no real and effective outcomes in all of the discussions that Senator Xenophon had.

We asked the question of Senator Canavan today—through Senator Gallacher, a great South Australian senator—and referred to comments made this morning by Senator Birmingham, in particular in relation to the role of Minister Joyce. Has he been sidelined in all of this process—this fantastic discussion that is going to take place at COAG meetings? The answer that Senator Birmingham gave this morning was, 'Nothing has changed'. And that is exactly right! As a result of Senator Xenophon and his team's agreement to reduce the working conditions of building workers as a result of the ABCC legislation, nothing has changed in respect of water.

Former Senator Barnaby Joyce and now Deputy Prime Minister Joyce will continue his role as water minister, he will continue his attacks on South Australians getting a fair share of the water system and he will continue to ensure that the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is not implemented. (Time expired)