The Murray Darling Basin is one of the greatest water assets of our nation. Over 2 million people live in it and the agricultural capacity is vital for our nation. It provides a massive boost to the agricultural exports of our nation. The Basin produces one third of Australia's food supply and supports over a third of Australia's total gross value of agricultural production.
Nothing grows and nothing survives without water. Coming from an irrigation town, I know more so than others how parochial the issue of water is and how incendiary threats can be of the loss of this vital commodity to an area.
The Coalition’s goal, first and foremost is, to make sure we deliver a triple bottom line to the Murray Darling. That is, recognising the economic necessity of making water available, understanding the social fabric that water underpins and making sure we do our best to look after the key environmental assets of the basin. There are many people who live in irrigation towns who don’t have an irrigation license but if the water goes, they are left high and dry too.
Quite obviously, our endeavour for the irrigation farmers of South Australia is that they have water available to them. The Government has neither the money nor the desire to move towns and families to new areas, but that does not mean we should not consider creating options for them. The sin I am guilty of is suggesting that in the possibility of opening up new areas on new catchments, that consideration be given to those who, for a myriad of reasons, have found themselves in an uneconomic or unsustainable positions.
Minster Wong’s statement that I’m going to forcibly relocate people from South Australia is as illogical as it is wrong.
The Coalition devised the policy that has as one of its focuses the delivery of water to the irrigators and people of South Australia.
In fact, the Coalition has every right to ask Penny Wong about more than $400 million that was allocated to the Menindee storage lakes that would have delivered water to South Australia if it had been completed.
The water has now arrived in these lakes from Queensland. More water will evaporate from these lakes than Queensland uses and that’s water South Australia could have.
This is from a minister who spent in excess of $300 million buying water from one family, reported to be $40 million more than she should have and which completely strangled the life of the town of Collarenebri. This was on the back of another decision devastating Bourke, a purchase for $23.75 million of Toorale Station, which she never inspected. If she had, she would realise it doesn’t even deliver water into the system.
Given this Government’s record in so many areas, I‘m not surprised that she would also get the direction of this policy so completely and utterly wrong.