Anne McEwen (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today is a monumental day for South Australians and for the future of the Murray-Darling Basin. After years of disagreement and decades of overallocation and constant bickering amongst states today is the day when the plan is finally locked in. The disallowance period will expire at the end of this parliamentary sitting and after over a century of tug of war between the states we will be able to celebrate the fact that South Australians will once and for all see a permanent return of 3,200 billion litres of water to our river. The Murray-Darling Basin reforms are a major milestone in the health of the river.

When I say these changes to the river have been a long time coming I really mean it. Back in February I had the pleasure of meeting with Bev and John Lowe, a couple from Western Australia, who are relatives of former South Australian senator William Senior. He was a senator in the early years of the 20th century. I did a bit of research about Senator Senior before I met with Bev and John purely out of interest and so I could learn a little more about him. Reading his Governor-General's address-in-reply speech from 1914 I was shocked. Would you believe that back then, in May 1914, almost 99 years ago, there was heated debate in this place, which was down the road a bit then, about the future of the river?

Senator Senior was concerned even back then about the plight, the future and the health of the river Murray. That was before we knew the scientific effects of climate change and before we knew how catastrophic global warming could be. Yet Senator Senior recognised that the state of the river Murray was one which should be of national concern.

Former Senator Senior came face to face with the same narrow-mindedness that has plagued the issue for more than a century. In retaliation to interjections during his address-in-reply speech, Senator Senior said:

I grant that the water may fall in Queensland, or in New South Wales, or by the mere veering of the wind, in Victoria; but after all, its' origin seems to me to indicate that we should regard it as a gift for Australia, and the object of our legislation should be to make the greatest use of it, not for NSW, or Victoria or South Australia, but for Australia as a whole.

The senator went on to say that the issue should be treated as an issue for the whole nation and not just for those states that are along the river. He said:

There has not been, as there should have been, a general appreciation of the fact that the waters belong as much to others to whom they are conveyed by the river as to the people on whose land the rain from heaven has fallen.

Senator Senior was not the first to voice his concerns in this place and he most certainly was not the last, as the debate over the allocation of the Murray-Darling continued for the rest of the 20th century and moved with us into the 21st century as well. But if it were not for local people voicing their concerns about the river, I doubt we would be celebrating the finalisation of the plan that we are celebrating today.

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Henry Jones, a water warrior, a Clayton resident and a man who has fought passionately to secure the river's health down in the Lower Lakes and Coorong region where he lives at Clayton. Henry and his wife, Gloria, travelled across from Adelaide last night to be here for this momentous day. A sixth generation commercial fisherman in the Lower Lakes and Coorong area, Henry became the face of The Advertiser's Save the Murray campaign. After spending much of his lifetime fighting for the river, fighting to secure the future of his livelihood and the livelihoods of others who depend on the river, he was extremely proud to see this day come. I would like to congratulate Henry on being awarded the River Murray Medal, an award made by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority last month.

The best news to come out of today is that those communities that live along the river—the fishermen like Henry, who rely on a healthy river—can finally have a positive outlook on their futures. The Gillard Labor government, after a century or more of disagreements and conflict, has finally achieved what no other government has done before: success. Success not just for any one state but for the health and longevity of the Murray-Darling Basin, our greatest river system.

I would like to congratulate everybody who campaigned for this day. I would especially like to make mention of Labor federal ministers, Penny Wong and Tony Burke—both water ministers, who gave their all to make sure that this day could come about. Thank you.