Charlotte Walker, Senator for South Australia: Well, good morning everyone. Thank you for being here with us today. Today, we're in Goolwa at the CLLMM Research Centre. The CLLMM Research Centre is really, really important in this region, they do lots of research on the water down here. But one of their most important roles within this area is making sure that we're bringing stakeholders together when we're doing research and looking forward on what to do on this region. So, a massive thank you to them for having us here today and taking us through some of the work that they've been doing. We're also joined here by Ministers Watt and Wong. I'll hand over to Minister Watt.
Murray Watt, Minister for the Environment and Water: Thanks very much, Charlotte. It's an absolute pleasure to join you in your Senate role along with our Senate Leader, of course, Senator Penny Wong to make another important announcement regarding the Murray-Darling Basin today. Thank you, can I echo Charlotte's words about the CLLMM Research Centre, it's the second time in a week that I've been here to meet with Alec, Jane, and the team. We really appreciate you hosting us today, but also for the ongoing work that you do to provide an important evidence base for governments and other parties who have such concern about the Murray Darling Basin.
The reason we're here today is that I'm announcing that I have accepted a recommendation from Australia's Threatened Species Scientific Committee to list the Lower Murray River as 'critically endangered' under national environmental law. This listing covers the waterways, the wetlands, flood plains, and vegetation of the River Murray downstream from its intersection with the Darling River in New South Wales, and the listing includes the iconic Coorong Lagoon. The listing provides important recognition that, despite the efforts of governments and communities, the Lower Murray remains under great stress, and that we need to do more to protect it and restore it.
I think everyone here knows that a healthy Murray River is crucial for our environment, for agriculture, tourism, and local communities both here in South Australia and right across the nation. South Australians and all Australians love this region, but its ecosystems are threatened by over-extraction of water, feral animals, habitat loss, weeds, and salinity among other factors. And those threats are, of course, made worse by increasingly severe droughts and floods caused by climate change.
Today's listing is an important reminder that past activities and decisions regarding the Murray-Darling Basin have consequences. And it's why the Albanese Government has been so determined to change course, since our election in 2022, in protecting the Murray-Darling Basin, and that's including by helping fund the addition of Mundoo Island to Coorong National Park, which I announced with Premier Malinauskas here last week.
In terms of what this listing means, there are two key things. It will guide future government action to protect and restore the Lower Murray, and it will require greater assessment of major developments that impact on the region's environment. Importantly, the listing won't affect land tenure or prevent farmers from undertaking their existing normal activities like cropping, grazing, or fencing on cleared land. But major new developments that may significantly impact on this ecosystem will now require federal assessment and approval.
Today's decision has a long history, going back to 2013 when the Rudd-Labor Government also listed this ecosystem as critically endangered only to see it torn up by Tony Abbott's government shortly after it was elected. We then saw a decade of neglect under the Coalition, which dismally failed to recover the environmental water needed to protect the Murray, and saw its health decline even further.
Fortunately, we now have governments both in Canberra and here in South Australia that are serious about the science and serious about protecting and restoring the Murray, and today's announcement is another step towards that objective. Ensuring iconic Australian natural environments like this have a future is why the Albanese Government will continue to support progress on the Murray Darling Basin.
I know there are some politicians and commentators out there who continue to question our government's actions to protect and restore this iconic river system, in particular our decision to pursue voluntary water purchases. But this scientific advice shows why those actions are needed.
Now, we recognise that those actions can also have impacts on local communities and industry, and that governments need to provide support to manage those impacts. And that's why I'm also announcing today that we are opening applications from today for the first round of a $20 million grant program to support South Australia's River Murray communities. Through these grants, we're backing South Australia's River Murray communities with targeted investment to create jobs, lift local economies, and ensure local communities thrive into the future as water is recovered to protect and restore the Murray. So I encourage people who are interested in those grants to hop on the PIRSA website today to get more information and to apply.
I'll hand over now to Senator Wong, who'll cover this and some other issues, and then we're obviously happy to take questions. Thanks.
Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs: Thanks very much, Murray. It's fantastic to be here with you and with Charlotte. And thanks to CLLMM for the work you do and for hosting us.
First, a few comments on the Murray River and the important announcement that Minister Watt has just made. It is an important day for the Murray and an important day for South Australians - for our communities, for our environment, for our primary producers, and for our tourism industry. The announcement that Minister Watt has made really recognises legally, and formally, what we all know here in South Australia - that the River Murray is nationally significant, and that the River Murray deserves stronger protections.
And you may remember I spent a number of years as the Water Minister during a very challenging period, and I remember the challenges that our communities and our waterways faced. I remember the challenges that the Coorong faced. And we all understand the environmental and national significance of this, the Lower Murray region. The recognition that Minister Watt has announced will help drive real action on the threats to our river. As he said, of course, this was put in place in 2013, shamefully scrapped by the Liberal and National parties. And South Australians know that the Liberal and National parties have always been focused on upstream states, and have never done the right thing by South Australia when it comes to the Murray River.
There are a few other issues of the day that I do want to speak about. The first is Parliament next week. As the Prime Minister said, the horrific events at Bondi, the murder of 15 Australians, was a horrific event, tragic event, and an event that calls on us to do more. Those perpetrators had hate in their minds and guns in their hands. And we as a Government need to address both. The legislation that has been proposed that is before a committee deals with that, it deals with both the hatred and the guns. And it is legislation that we have spent a great deal of attention, and focused a great deal of attention on legislation which has been carefully drafted and which would constitute the strongest protections against hate speech this country has seen.
And it's important. We know why it's important. Yet we see from the Liberal and National parties nothing more than weakness, nothing more than hypocrisy. In December, Sussan Ley and her frontbenchers called for the urgent return of the parliament. They called not once, not twice, but multiple times. They demanded it. And now we have legislation that is directly addressing what we know was part of the call from the Jewish community and others for stronger protections in the aftermath of Bondi. And now the Liberal Party and the National Party have changed their tune. Instead they want the delay. Well, I think Australians can see what is happening. Australians can see that the Liberals and the Nationals never put Australia first.
I do want to also turn to Iran. You would have heard the Prime Minister and I both express Australia's strong support for the people of Iran. Our horror at the oppressive regime which is killing its people in an attempt to maintain power. And that we have joined as a country the call by so many on the regime to protect the rights of its citizens, to protect its people and to stop the killing and oppression of the people it says it represents.
You may also have seen a lot of media reporting over the last 24 hours. I would say this. First, regional tensions are high in the Middle East. The security situation could deteriorate rapidly. This may result in airspace closures, flight cancellations and other travel disruptions. I know there are already reports of this occurring online. Demonstrations and protest activities are and may continue to occur. Local security situations could deteriorate with little notice. Iran is already 'Do Not Travel.' Additionally, we advise all those in the region to avoid demonstrations and protests. Smartraveller advice will continue to be updated as required and I urge all Australians in the region to ensure that they make themselves familiar with whatever Smartraveller advice the government is posting and that may continue to change at short notice.
Journalist: How concerned are you by escalating tensions between Iran and the United States, with President Trump threatening to intervene?
Penny Wong: As I'by what we have seen, a brutal regime engaging in the oppression of its people. That is why our government has taken stronger action against Iran than any previous Australian government. More sanctions, the expulsion of the Iranian ambassador and the listing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In relation to those matters, I will again say to people, please ensure that you look at the travel advice and I refer to what I said in my opening.
Journalist: And would Australia support the US intervention?
Penny Wong: I'm not going to comment on hypotheticals.
Journalist: And when can we expect an announcement on the replacement for Kevin Rudd as Ambassador to the US?
Penny Wong: Thank you for the question. I, again, express my personal appreciation to Kevin for an outstanding job, for his hard work and for his advice and counsel over the last few years. We've highly appreciated it. Obviously, we will make an announcement in due course.
Journalist: And what do you think would be the most important qualifications or skills for that role?
Penny Wong: There are obviously - we will make the decision that we believe is in the national interest.
Journalist: And will the government move to protect hate speech against groups like the LGBT+ community? And when?
Penny Wong: The Prime Minister and the Home Affairs Minister and the Attorney-General have spoken about this. Obviously our priority is to deal with what occurred at Bondi, the deaths of Australians at the hands of two gunmen. We have to deal with both the hatred and the means. The Prime Minister has said on those issues that we will look at going forward what further grounds might be required. At this stage, our priority is to deal with antisemitism and that is what this bill does.
Journalist: And I've been asked to ask you what your reaction is to the fallout from the Adelaide Festival's board to disinviting Randa Abdel-Fattah?
Penny Wong: Obviously there's a legal case on foot so you'll understand why I can't comment further. I would say, all South Australians want the festival to be a success.
Journalist: Are you concerned about the potential reputational damage [indistinct]?
Penny Wong: I refer you to my early answer.
Journalist: Minister Watt, let's get back to why we're here. I'm just wondering, because the area was listed back in 2013 but then overturned by the incoming Abbott government, why has it taken so long to relist this area?
Murray Watt: Because it took the election of a Labor government to get to a point where we would have a government prepared to list this. The process here has been that the Humane Society nominated the Lower Murray as an area that should be considered by the Threatened Species Scientific Committee for listing. They've then obviously had undertaken some very detailed research consultation in order to provide that advice and we've now acted on it. But the fact that this has not been listed for the last 10 years is exactly because we had a decade of Coalition federal government that neglected and ignored the needs of the Murray. They had 10 years to recover 450 gigalitres of environmental water. They recovered 2 gigalitres. Now, since in the couple of years that we've been in office, we've already recovered something like 170 gigalitres towards that 450, and you will have seen towards the end of last year I announced that we would be acquiring another 130 to get us to 300. So, we're already well ahead of the recovery in three years that the Coalition managed to achieve in 10. So, we need governments, and South Australians in particular, need governments that take these issues seriously and are prepared to act. That's involved some difficult conversations for our government with upstream water users, with upstream governments. But a true national government takes the national interest, including the interest of South Australia.
Journalist: So, how will you recover that further is it 280 gigalitres? Is that going to be voluntary buybacks?
Murray Watt: Yes, that's right. So all the buybacks that we do are voluntary. As I say, since coming to office, we have acquired 170 gigalitres voluntarily. What we found when we undertook the tenders there was that there was actually a lot of interest in selling water to the Commonwealth Government. We were oversubscribed. So what we're doing at the moment is actually going back to the EOIs that were previously lodged to acquire another 130 gigalitres, which takes us to 300. So therefore we're at 300 of the 450 we need. We expect by the end of this calendar year to have acquired around 400 gigalitres, and there's obviously a little bit more time to get to that target but the purchases are always voluntary and it would appear there's many willing sellers out there.
Journalist: How are you expecting this announcement to be received further upstream even in South Australia and across the borders?
Murray Watt: Yeah, look, I mean I think everyone understands that South Australians have a particular attachment to the Murray because you live with the consequences of upstream decisions every single day. And as I say, what we need is a federal government that is prepared to consider the interests of the basin as a whole, including those here in South Australia. Now, it is possible to come up with a plan to manage the needs of the Murray-Darling Basin in its entirety. It's called the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. The problem we've had is that for 10 years, we had a federal government that wasn't prepared to implement that plan. And now we have a government in Canberra, along with many state governments, that are prepared to work with us to deliver that plan. And that is critical to save the Murray-Darling Basin so that we can have agriculture into the future, so that we can protect the environment into the future, have tourism into the future and have viable communities into the future. If you have a chance to look at the conservation advice once it's published in the next couple of days, it makes very clear that implementing the Murray-Darling Basin plan in the way that we have is making a difference, but there's a lot more to be done.
Journalist: You talked about being informed by science, and particularly from the Invasive Species Council, so thinking about carp, are we going to be looking at release of the carp virus? Is this going to make this easier?
Murray Watt: Well, that's obviously a decision that has yet to be made. But again, when you have a look at the conservation advice, you'll see that it has something to say about carp and other invasive species. As a government since coming to office in 2022, we have invested in carp control, and there has been scientific research undertaken around the release of that virus. I think the truth is that there are mixed views still in the scientific community about the pros and cons of releasing that virus, but we'll continue to take that into consideration. I've discussed that with Julie Collins, my colleague the Agriculture Minister, and I know that that's something she's got under consideration.
Journalist: And when was the last you were able to get out and have a look at the South Lagoon in Coorong, which is the area that is most [inaudible]?
Murray Watt: Yeah, I haven't had an opportunity to do that yet, but I'm looking forward to doing that over the course of the next few months. As you'd be aware, I've been in this very location twice in the last week, including at Mundoo Island, but I'm certainly looking forward to getting down into the southern part of the lagoon before too long.
Journalist: And how important has it been to have this research centre here at Goolwa, at the start of the Coorong here?
Murray Watt: Yeah, look, as I said last week when I met with the CLLMM researchers, we recognised the really valuable role that this research centre plays in providing that evidence base, as I say, for governments to make informed decisions. I think the other thing this research centre has done very well is bring together different perspectives and different interests when it comes to management of the Murray River. There's a lot of parts of the country where you can't get farmers, environmentalists, First Nations communities and other community members sitting in a room talking together, and that's what's been achieved here. And I think that's a really good model for the rest of the country as well.
Journalist: And you've been listening today and hearing people have still got memories of when you could walk across the thin channel of water. So this community still remembers that.
Murray Watt: Absolutely.
Journalist: It must be really difficult, because you're going to get a lot of blowback from the, as you were saying, upstates, it's always pointing the finger at everybody else. How do you communicate to them that this is so needed, this protection?
Murray Watt: Well, as I say, I think my role and our role as federal ministers and members of parliament is to think about the overall national interest. What happens in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria has impacts on South Australia and likewise in reverse. We need to consider the basin as a national system rather than just thinking about one state or one interest group's needs over the other. It is possible to come up with a plan that does balance all of those interests. The announcement that I've made today about funding communities that are going through some level of adjustment as a result of water recovery is a way of showing that we do need to make hard decisions about water use and water recovery, but equally we can support communities that are going through that change. It doesn't have to be one or the other.
Journalist: So you've announced $20 million for South Australian communities. Will there be further funding for people on the other side of the border?
Murray Watt: Yeah, so when my predecessor Tanya Plibersek first made announcements about the next stages of the plan, we did announce what's known as a Sustainable Communities Program and that's the bucket of funding that these funds are coming from. We have already reached an agreement with the New South Wales Government and they've begun distributing funding to some of their communities. This is the beginning of that process here in South Australia, and I was very pleased that just before Christmas, the Victorian Government advised us that they were interested in negotiating with us about the distribution of those funds. That was a significant change from the Victorian Government and it's one that I really welcome because we want to see their communities prosper into the future as well.
Journalist: And there's been quite a lot of work being done on the Healthy Coorong, Healthy Basin plan in the last stages, putting together a business plan with the infrastructure. Do you know how far away we are from an announcement of what might be done?
Murray Watt: No, I know that that is under consideration at the moment, but I'd have to come back to you in terms of a timeframe for that.
Thanks very much.