E&OE...
Thank you, thank you very much Ken, Jim Lloyd the Federal Member for Robertson and Minister for Local Government, Roads and Territories, Michael Gallacher, Chris Hartcher, the Mayors of Gosford and Wyong, ladies and gentlemen. It is great to be back here in Mingara, I think it's the third or fourth time I've visited this wonderful establishment. I first came here in its old manifestation, I think I've been here on two or three occasions since the new enlarged club which is a wonderful gathering place for people on the Central Coast. Ken, I do understand the separate sense of identify of people on the Central Coast, I do understand that. You're not looking for statehood are you? No? No, I think we have enough states and territories at the moment and I think what you do want though is to recognise, it to be recognised, that it's a very distinct community.
Well one way of recognising that it's a very distinct community is to have a very distinct source of water supply for this community and that is one way in which we can do it and I did have an opportunity out at the Mangrove Creek Dam this morning to have pointed out to me by Ken and Jim and the local engineers just how this new pipeline was going to work and what an enormous difference it was going to make and that's what we need to do all around Australia.
We have some people saying look what you've got to do about water is this one big thing. There's no one big thing that you have to do about water, there are a whole lot of different local solutions because every local community is different and just as a solution here on the Central Coast, the solution that is going to benefit probably 300,000 people, which is a very big community, the solution is to, in large measure, build this pipeline that will supply 22 kilometres of a missing link and to be told this morning that the Mardi Dam is full and the other dam I visited the Mangrove Creek one is what, 17 to 20 per cent tells the story. If you can put a pipeline between the two of them, it's commonsense that you're going to make a very, very big impression on the water supply problem and it really is heartbreaking whenever we get an enormous downpour and you've had what, 16 inches using the old language that we all understand very, very well, I certainly do. I understand the new language too but I mean... But look, it sounds more 16 inches and it really does drive home to you and all so much of it is just sort of lost and we really do have to as a country learn that that drought is something that's always been with us. I mean, the old, the wonderful Dorothea Mackellar poem talked about droughts and flooding rains. Now that was something that was part of Australian life when she wrote that wonderful poem, it's not something that we've discovered in the 21st Century and the problem with this country on occasions is that we have a drought and then it rains a bit and people say well you beaut, that's fixed and then we go on to the next thing. Well we're not making that mistake on this occasion. In so many local communities around Australia we are doing things locally which are suitable to local communities and just as a pipeline is wonderful for the Central Coast, something else will be valuable for another part of our wonderful country but now that I'm talking about drought and flooding rains I do want to join all of you in paying a heartfelt tribute to the men and women of our emergency services who are here today. They are fantastic, let's give them another clap.
They're here in their different manifestations, the SES, the Rural Fire Service, the volunteer service and of course there are police officers and ambulance officers obviously in the audience and to all of those who volunteer or do extra special things when there is an emergency they demonstrate that wonderful Australian characteristic of mateship in a time of crisis. I use that word quite a bit and people ask me,