PM: I am here today with the Minister for Climate Change and Water, Penny Wong, here at the Hume Dam. And on Wednesday the Government is releasing it's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and in part, we are dealing with the long term challenge of rivers like the Murray.
If we are going to deal with the long term challenge of climate change, we need to act and we need to act with a clear cut course of action. Because what we are warned by the scientists, if we fail to act on climate change long term and we fail to act on the causes of climate change long term, then what will happen to river systems like this is they will start to get worse and worse and worse.
Here at the Hume Dam, I have just been advised that the Murray, here in the upper Murray, just the other side of the Dam wall is now running at levels which haven't been seen since this Dam was built in the 1920's.
So the water levels in the upper Murray are lower than they have been since the Hume Dam was built in the 1920's. What we are here today to talk about also is of course, the level of inflow in the Dam itself which is currently at 19 per cent capacity. And of course this is one of the lowest it has been.
The report that the Minister and I have and release today from the CSIRO, Water Availability in the Murray, deals with the impact of use and other factors on water availability in the Murray into the future.
And there is a few stats I will point out to you. One is that inflows into the Murray today are one sixth their long term average. Secondly, between 1997 and 2006 we have been tracking worse than the CSIRO's mid point scenario out to 2030 taking into account climate change factors.
What does that mean? CSIRO, tracking climate change impact on the Murray out to 2030, the medium point of their projections is in fact better than what the Murray is today. In other words, we have a real problem on our hands.
And the third point is this that the CSIRO report says that there could be up to 41 per cent less water available in the Murray Region by 2030.
We have some real problems on our hands.
And this report seeks to put some science around this in terms of defining the problem. And that's why we are here today. But apart from defining the problem, our responsibility is to outline a course of action.
Three courses of action to which the Government is committed. Long term course of action deals with how do we deal with the causes of climate change and that is in part why we are introducing this carbon pollution reduction scheme, the green paper for which will be released this coming Wednesday.
The second is this: We need medium term strategies as well, which deal with over allocation of water entitlements across the entire Murray Darling system, and how do we bring that back under control.
And the Minister already has acted on this for the first time in the Nation's history, the national Government is buying back water rights from farmers who wish to sell them in order to put less stress on the overall system.
And there is a third factor as well. How do deal in the short term with the efficiency of irrigation systems and how do we therefore have less demand right now on the system through more efficient irrigation management systems.
That's why the Minister and I together with the Premiers and Chief Ministers announced recently in Sydney a further $3.7 billion in funding support for irrigation systems modernisation to produce more efficient irrigation systems across the system.
What we need therefore are short term strategies which deal with the problem now, medium term strategies which is taking demand off the system in terms of buying back water rights and entitlements, and we have begun that through the Minister's work. And then long term, taking action on climate change.
Because if we don't, then we are going to see not just the continuation of a problem we have here, but getting much, much worse. So that this beautiful part of the Australia ends up being damaged big time, long term.
This requires long term action, that's why the Government is committed to this. And a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme which we will be announcing the outline of this coming Wednesday, is part of this long term solution. Minister, do you wish to add?
WONG: Thank you. First can I thank all those people who have hosted us today. It has certainly been a very interesting tour and it reminds us yet again that climate change is not just about the future. It is not just about our children and our grand children. It is also about the here and now.
And the report that the Prime Minister referred to shows us just how much we are up against it in the Murray Darling Basin at the moment.
And it shows us what is projected to happen as a result of climate change. So we do need to act. We need to act through the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme which I will be announcing on Wednesday and we also need to act in the short and medium term to take pressure off the river to deal with the over allocation that we have seen over too many years.
The Dam behind us is at historic low levels. We know that last June, the June just gone, is the driest June on record. And we know that we have had historic low inflows for the last two years. So this shows us yet again how climate change is a present problem as well as a problem for future generations and that is why we must now act.
JOURNALIST: Minister you have gone to the Coorong earlier this month and now the head of the Murray up here at Hume. What things have you learns about the system overall in terms of feeding back into a plan for it's future?
PM: Well, the big challenge - and I will ask the Minister to comment on this - is to finally just look at the hard data contained in reports like this but to also see first hand the impact in terms of dam storage levels, the level of the river and of course all those irrigators who are currently depending on the system.
What have we done in our first six months in Government, for the first time we have a Murray Darling Basin Authority. An Authority due to come into operation by years' end with it's own chairman chief executive, with it's own powers to determine a Basin plan for the entire system and for the first time in the country's history, a basin wide cap.
We have done that in our first six months. I am the first to admit, we have got a lot more to do. The second thing the Minister has done since we have been in office is commence this very necessary program of buying back water entitlements from farmers who want to sell, to take the stress off the system.
The third thing is, a commitment to this Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme to deal with this problem in the long term as well.
JOURNALIST: Mr Rudd you flew into Albury this morning, did you fly over Lake Hume at all?
PM: No, we saw in the distance, we came in that way.
JOURNALIST: Are you surprised by, physically looking at it, how low it is?
PM: Well I remember coming here as a kid and I came here I think from memory, in around about 1967, because we came down here on a holiday. Were you born then?
WONG: '68 I was born.
PM: Ok, you were being thought of at that stage. And I just noticed on the table back there, ‘68 I think was your historical low.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) low and was full within a year.
PM: So I remember coming down here as a kid and seeing it was low, but I have got to say, if you look at that data up there contained in the management centre that we were at just before, we are looking at levels for this Dam which have rarely, rarely been reached in the past.
So the system is under stress. It effects everybody. We need a long term plan for action. Long term measures, medium term measures as well as the investments we have just made, some $3.7 billion across the system to improve irrigation efficiency.
JOURNALIST: Minister, what sort of achievements will you be expecting that new authority to have made within the shorter and the medium term? Do you have particular goals?
WONG: Look, the agreement that the Prime Minister and the Premiers signed off on at the last COAG is historic. And the reason it is historic is that for the first time in the Nation's history, we will be managing this basin as one basin and recognising that rivers flow across state borders. So that is an historic agreement. Obviously what we want from the authority is the development for the first time, of a scientifically based, basin wide plan and cap that will set a sustainable level of extraction from the river.
What we know, and these reports tell us that, is that we have to do more with less. We have to become more efficient and we have to take less water out of the rivers than we have over the last 100 years. So what the Government is doing until that plan is developed is to reduce stress on the river by purchasing entitlement, purchasing water and investing in irrigation infrastructure so farmers can do more with less.
JOURNALIST: The head of the Murray Darling Basin Commission, Dr Wendy Craig has actually said we need rain of biblical proportions to ever fill the lake here again. I mean, what sort of difference will the strategies and the money that you are putting in, make in that sense. Are we going to see, you know in two years or three years, a rise in water levels because of that.
WONG: Well what we have to do is to do more with less and we have to reduce how much we are taking out of the river. So what we can do as a government is to work with the State Government's to manage this river system better and to manage it recognising where we are likely to go.
The report we released today suggests that by 2030 we will see substantially lower inflows into the river than the 100 year average. And that is consistent with so many of the reports that have been released in the Murray Darling Basin, that we are looking at a future where there is likely to be less rain.
So we have to prepare for that and the way in which we prepare for that, first in the short term, is to reduce what we take out of the river, so that's purchasing entitlements so we can get water back into the river. And then we have to do more with less and we have to ensure that our irrigation industries are as efficient as they can be so that we can reduce pressure on the river.
And long term, we do have to prepare for the possibility of a future where there is less rain. And part of that means we have to tackle climate change through measures such as the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.
JOURNALIST: Will the water buyback from the infrastructure upgrades help the river system in time before it is beyond repair?
WONG: Look, we recognise that we are up against it in the Murray Darling Basin, we recognise that we also have to deal with an historically low level of rainfall and historically low level of inflow.
What the government is absolutely committed to doing is purchasing water. We have already spent for the first time in the nation's history, $50 million as a down payment on the health of the River Murray,
We have committed $5.8 billion in this year's Budget to investment in infrastructure in irrigation to ensure that we can do more with less. So we have a short and medium term plan and also we know long term, we do have to prepare for the likelihood of a future with less rainfall.
JOURNALIST: Wendy Craik has described the river system as being on life support last week when she has revealed those figures. Do you agree, do you think it is, the situation is that dire?
PM: This river system, as the Minister and I said only a week or so ago at the, down towards the Murray mouth, the Murray Darling is in severe stress.
Let's not pretend it is any better than that, it is severe stress. And this has been a problem building for a decade plus. And in terms of the climate change factors, for longer than that as well.
The key though is what is a credible course of action for the future. There is no point promising what you can't deliver. We can't promise that it is going to rain. But what you can do is have a credible long term strategy on climate change hence a carbon pollution reduction scheme; A credible medium term strategy when it comes to buying back entitlements; and a credible immediate terms strategy which is about upping the efficiency of the way in which we use this precious resource. And to do it in a national way.
I mean that's, Victoria, this is NSW, this is all Australia. And we have got an Australian problem on our hands. And as Australian we have got to fix it.
JOURNALIST: Mr Rudd there has been reports of your most recent water buy back, the money that was spent was actually grossly undervalued. Is the government prepared to meet the market value of water for it's next buyback?
PM: Well I'll have the Minister speak to that in detail but can I make one point - this is the first national government in Australia's history to participate in buying back water entitlements. And we have done that within six months of taking office.
Now that's how deeply we feel about the need to act on this system. Secondly, this initial $50 million allocation is simply that, an initial allocation, we have got much bigger plans long term. Minister.
WONG: Well as you know as the Prime Minister has said, this was the first time the National Government has directly entered the water market. We are undertaking an evaluation of the first $50 million down payment. And a range of stake holder, including irrigators are on that evaluation committee.
But can I say, obviously in approaching water buyback, we have to be mindful of a number of things. We have to look at what is the environmental value of the water, making sure that we can actually do something good for the river with the water and we have to ensure that the taxpayer is getting value for money. And those are criteria which are transparently applied to our water purchase program.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible) when you are buying back some of this water (inaudible)
WONG: We absolutely understand how tough it is in many regional and rural communities and for many irrigators. We are at a situation where we see the driest June in history, on record. The two years prior to the election of this government were the direst two years in terms of the Murray River in history. And what is even more concerning I think it was 43 per cent lower than the previous low. So this is an historically dry circumstance we all find ourselves in.
The Government is very conscious of that, we do want a strong future for the irrigation industries and the communities that rely on them. That's why we are investing $5.8 billion into that, into infrastructure irrigation investment. We also have said, part of our program is purchasing water, purchasing entitlement. Because all of us, all the communities who rely on the river, all of the industries who rely on the river have an interest in ensuring the river is much better health than it is now.
PM: Remember it is the CSIRO that tells us that the River Murray stands to have 41 per cent less inflow by 2030. And if we are looking at a clear cut example of the need to act on climate change, this is it.
JOURNALIST: There is a concern also Mr Rudd for looking at those forecasts going forward, something as simple as drinking water and the domestic supply, have you sort of heard much (inaudible)
PM: Well the Minister will be engaged in consultation right across the Murray Darling System. Of course residential use and urban use is part of the demands placed on the system. The big demands placed on the system are of course from agricultural users. And that is why the discussion we have just been having about how you deal effectively, fairly with farmers and the purchase of water entitlements. That's where the big debate lies.
You can either shy away from that and say it is all to hard, sorry, too sensitive, or you can act. And we intend to act.
JOURNALIST: Have you set a time frame for agriculture to enter the emissions trading scheme?
PM: Well I think there is a Green Paper coming out on this soon, so. And I think it is going to have something to do with a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. This Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is, will deal obviously with emissions trading and it will deal also with how we support households and businesses in the transition period as well.
So carbon pollution reduction is what we are on about, if you are being serious about dealing with the long term challenge.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible)
PM: Pope Benedict is a welcome guest in Australia. I hope he has a great rest. I think so many Australians, hundreds and thousands are looking forward to seeing him during the course of the next week. And I look forward to participating in some of those events myself.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) John Howard wanted Big Brother taken off the air, now that it is happening, anything to say on that?
PM: Can I just say, television networks make their own decisions and things come and things go, and I'll leave it up to them.