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MURRAY-DARLING BASIN
Thursday 15th November 2007
Rev Fred Nile, Leader of the Christian Democratic Party, gave the following speech in the NSW Legislative Council on Wednesday 14th November 2007.
“The Christian Democratic Party supports the Murray-Darling Basin Amendment Bill. This bill will amend the Murray-Darling Basin Agreement 1992 to enable improved business practices by River Murray Water, which is the water business unit of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission. The Murray-Darling Basin Agreement 1992 was an agreement between the Australian Government and the governments of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory. The purpose of the agreement is to provide and coordinate effective planning and management for the equitable, efficient and sustainable use of the water, land and other environmental resources of the Murray-Darling Basin. Effectively the agreement establishes the legal framework for natural resource management, water distribution, asset management and financial disbursements between jurisdictions of the Murray-Darling Basin initiative.
The agreement was amended, through this legislation, on 14 July 2006. It is historic that the bill includes sections of the agreement, which appear on pages 15 and 16, and contains the signatures of the Hon. John Howard, the Prime Minister of Australia; Morris Iemma, the Premier of New South Wales; Steve Bracks, the Premier of Victoria; Peter Beattie, the Premier of Queensland; Mike Rann, the Premier of South Australia; and Mr Stanhope, the Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory. It is important that the States have been able to work together in harmony to maintain and keep operating this agreement, which is very important”, said Rev Fred Nile.
“The Minister in the other place, Mr Philip Koperberg, said that there was some concern about the liability of Queensland, which has been clarified in this legislation. The terms of the present agreement did not specifically ensure that Queensland could not be held liable for damages. This bill removes that possibility in the agreement. It makes quite clear that there is no widening of Queensland's liability in regard to the water situation. Many of us have been to country areas and looked at the Darling River. A recent photograph in the media showed where the Darling River has become a trickle. The photograph shows a young girl with one foot on one side of the Darling River and one foot on the other sidethat is, she was able to stand astride the small trickle of water that is the Darling River. The drought is having an horrific effect on the water flow through the Darling. I am sure many members have taken the opportunity to fly over the Darling River. As one flies over the river one sees not water, just the outline of the river course with the coloured sand snaking its way through the countryside.
We support the legislation. Recently the Standing Committee on State Development visited a number of country centres, including Cootamundra and Leeton. We were reminded of the struggles farmers are having with the drought and the reduction in water allocations. One farmer has written to me indicating that he voluntarily cut his water by 75 per cent and he was then told that his water had been cut by 83 per cent, which means that he is no longer able to be viable. It is a very serious situation, the lack of water, the supply of water and how to make water, which we cannot really do—it comes from the heavens. However, we can care for the water that we do have in a very efficient and sustainable way. That is the purpose of this bill. We hope that it will achieve its purpose”, Rev Nile stated.