Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

I want to indicate to those who might be listening, and to those in the chamber, that we do listen to one another. I think the previous speaker, Senator Patrick, has made some important points. I bemoan the fact that vested interests with such power can influence politics in this country to the point where the MRRT—a scheme that tried to build exactly what the senator is talking about, and that is making sure the wealth of the nation benefits the nation—was taken down by vested interests. These vested interests spent millions and millions of dollars in the media in a concerted effort to dismantle a scheme that would have been for the benefit of all Australians, who would have benefited from Australia's sovereign wealth, our wealth beneath the soil and the sea. This is a very big problem for this country: short termism. It's big, powerful voices with a lot of money turning the media in the wrong way.

I want to point something out to the senator, just before he goes—because I know he won't stay for the whole speech that I am about to make. It's one thing to say you support mining communities and for this government to talk about supporting business, but let me tell you that in Cobar, where I was recently—and I'm going to talk about my visit out west—there was a period of two weeks where there was no visiting medical officer for the hospital. There was a crisis of care and access for people. There is a big mine right near Cobar, the fragility of which should not be the case, but it is because this government isn't investing in the services that are needed for the town health services and education services.

This country—regional Australia—is at risk in terms of access to basic health services. None of the colleges take responsibility for the distribution of a workforce. Australian taxpayers are paying to create a great Australian medical workforce for ourselves, but it is so poorly distributed, and that is a risk to mining across this country as well. So these things cannot be divorced from one another; mining, health care and education are all intimately and intricately entwined because they involve people. And this government's failures in service provision across this nation are an absolute disgrace and a threat to the wealth and benefit of this nation—apart from being a threat to the individuals who live in those communities without the services which I think they should be able to expect to get when they need them.

I also know that all members here will know of the pain and suffering caused by the drought that has afflicted communities across vast swathes of my great state of New South Wales, and also the states of Victoria and Queensland. The Darling River and its tributaries have been driven into hydrological drought as millions of fish die and towns are forced to drink salt-laden water, 15 times saltier than the recommended amount. It's as Henry Lawson described in 'The Song of the Darling River':

The skies are brass and the plains are bare,

Death and ruin are everywhere—

And all that is left of the last year's flood

Is a sickly stream on the grey-black mud;

This, however, is not a disaster caused solely by climate change, denied by too many of those on the government benches, and adverse weather conditions. This disaster is rooted in the failure of this Liberal-National government and the coalition government of my state of New South Wales to adequately balance the needs of the environment, First Nations people and country towns against the big irrigators who donate to the National Party.

Australians spent $13 billion to fix a river system, the lifeblood of many regional communities and unique ecosystems. Instead, under the mismanagement of the state and federal Liberal-National coalition governments, this has flowed into the pumps of irrigators and left devastation in its wake. The river runs dry. People in Walgett, where I met with locals recently, are drinking water, as I said, at 15 times the salinity taste level that is recommended by the health department.

And it's not just the lack of palatable drinking water that the drought is causing in the river. This failure of river management is also creating a vicious cycle that threatens the health of families along the river.