Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Wong. I refer to the fact that the minister has not yet provided to the Senate the urgent advice on the short-term options to address the dire situation facing the lower lakes and the Coorong that she referred to on 18 June. My question is: what options are the government considering to address the situation at the lower end of the Murray in the short term? Will the minister now call an urgent meeting of the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council rather than waiting until November to implement urgent measures needed to assist the Murray mouth, the lower lakes and the Coorong?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In relation to the order to produce, as I think my office indicated through Senator Minchin’s office, I will be making a statement later this afternoon on that issue. Can I be very clear about this: this government is willing to get all the facts on the table when it comes to the lower lakes. We will ensure, as I will outline in the statement later today, that the information that the public needs to fully consider the situation in the lower lakes, the Coorong and the Murray-Darling Basin more generally is provided to the Senate both for the information of senators and for the information of the public.

More generally, on the issue about which I was also asked, which is the lower lakes and the Coorong, I remind Senator Birmingham that the only politician I am aware of who has actually publicly advocated the flooding of the lower lakes with seawater is his own colleague Dr Stone. I note that he as yet has not fronted up to the South Australian people and indicated his view on Dr Stone’s comment and whether or not she is wrong. If she is not wrong, how come the opposition yet again is saying one thing downstream and one thing upstream?

I have made clear a number of things in relation to the lower lakes. The first is this: just as a range of other icon sites and the river more generally are suffering from a history of overallocation, drought and climate change so too are the lower lakes and the Coorong. Those of us from South Australia know that the end of the river has historically, and even more so in recent times, experienced significant difficulties. As Senator Birmingham would know, given he takes an interest in these issues, the two years to November 2007 saw the lowest inflows on record into the River Murray—43 per cent lower than the previous lows.

It is unfortunate that those on the other side simply choose to play cynical politics with this issue in the face of a Mayo by-election. This is from a government that never purchased a single megalitre of water in 12 years, but now in the shadow and in the face of a Mayo by-election it wants to cynically manipulate this issue. My view about this is that this is a serious issue that demands serious policy response. It requires, in both the medium term and the short term, action by governments.

We have purchased our first tranche of $50 million of water. I note, and Senator Birmingham might want to comment on this, that concerns about water purchase have been raised by his colleague Mr Cobb as well as by Dr Stone. Again, one thing upstream, one thing downstream—that is the way the opposition works. We have purchased water. We have already announced in Adelaide a further purchase both in the northern basin and in the southern basin and we have indicated that we are open to rationalisation proposals from irrigation communities. This government is working both in the short and in the long term to address a historically difficult problem. We do not shy away from it and we will provide information to ensure that this debate is driven by the facts because the reality is this is not an easy situation to fix. (Time expired)

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I note the minister started out by saying that later today she would provide information to the Senate but then corrected herself to say she would be making a statement to the Senate. My question to the minister is this: does the urgent advice to which she referred earlier this year actually exist? If it does exist, why is it so hard for the minister to table that advice or is it simply a case that the government is waving the white flag on the Murray River?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is a question from an opposition senator who was part of a party that did nothing on this issue for 12 years. I have said I will provide a statement to the Senate which canvasses the issues that have been raised. I have also said that we on this side are of the view that the discussion about the River Murray and the Murray-Darling Basin should have all the facts on the table. That is why we supported an inquiry into the Murray-Darling Basin and an inquiry into the lower lakes and the Coorong. We believe that you have to look at the whole issue. We have to recognise that currently there is insufficient water in the system to do everything we want. We need to have all those facts on the table because for too long water policy in this country has been driven by politics and by senators opposite who were not prepared to make hard decisions. (Time expired)