E&OE...
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Good morning.
My Government's $10 billion plan to tackle national water security will reduce evaporation and wastage of water in Australia's irrigation systems, particularly in the Murray-Darling Basin.
Old, leaky irrigation channels will be piped and lined, drip systems will be installed on farms and the problem of over-allocation will be tackled. This should save more than 3000 gigalitres of water a year.
It is a carefully considered, well-crafted proposal that addresses the major problem of water security in Australia.
It is a balanced response to the serious problem of water scarcity in rural and regional areas.
By contrast, knee-jerk responses to the problem have the potential to dramatically undermine the farm sector and the many thousands of people it supports.
Recently, a senior Labor figure, Mr Bill Shorten, has proposed that cotton and rice growing in Australia be replaced by less thirsty crops like hemp. Such a plan would have a devastating impact on regional towns and cities in many parts of our country.
With workers in the coal and uranium industries already under threat from some of the more radical plans to tackle climate change coming from people such as Mr Peter Garrett, Australia cannot afford to embrace more radical proposals - just ask the people of Leeton in rural New South Wales who rely on the rice industry.
This country needs balanced, economically viable agriculture. We need a balance in our farm production with perennial crops and annuals like rice and cotton.
My government will never countenance a ban on these important crops.
What is needed to save water is proper pricing policies, a fair water trading system and the investment of billions of dollars to fix irrigation and over-allocation.
[ends]
Listen to this Speech (MP3 - 1.92Mb - 125secs)