Press conference in Adelaide, South Australia, with Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek

SUSAN CLOSE, DEPUTY PREMIER OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA MINISTER FOR CLIMATE, ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Well, welcome today to a wonderful announcement about more money being spent on conservation in South Australia with Tanya Plibersek who is, of course, the Federal Minister for Environment and Water, who has overseen one of the most significant reforms of the Murray-Darling Basin Agreement that has ever occurred since was first conceived. This funding is part of delivering that agreement.

I’m also with Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who is a South Australian for the Australian Greens Party and has been a fierce advocate not only for the Murray-Darling Basin as a whole but particularly for the Coorong-Lower Lakes region and has helped secure this funding from the Federal Government.

The South Australian Government and Departments, the local community will be the people who put the feet on the ground to deliver the outcomes that this funding will allow us to do. This is all about making sure that the habitat that we have for our precious birdlife is restored and is conserved long into the future. There are thousands of people across South Australia who care deeply about the health of our environment, particularly our birdlife in the Coorong and Lower Lakes region. They will be overjoyed to know that there is federal funding thanks to this partnership at the federal level by Senator Hanson-Young and Tanya Plibersek to deliver on ground works to see restoration of habitat. That’s the pathway to a stronger environment – restore the habitat, protect the areas and nature will do the rest. I’d like to invite Tanya Plibersek as the federal minister to speak more about this project.

TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Well, thank you, so much, Deputy Premier. It’s always a pleasure to be in South Australia, and I got the message from you very early on that if I wanted to be welcome in South Australia I had to fix the Murray Darling Basin Plan and get it back on track. And both the Deputy Premier and Senator Hanson-Young have made it very clear to me that they are committed to seeing the Murray Darling Basin Plan delivered in full. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.

Today’s announcement is another exciting step in realising the benefits of the Murray Darling Basin Plan for nature. Today we’re talking about a $17 million investment that will restore waterbird habitats around the Coorong and surrounding areas to make sure that these incredible birds, the shore birds and the migratory species, are able to survive and thrive into the future.

We know that habitat is the most critical element of whether a species is likely to be healthy and to be able to breed and to remain in the landscape. And today’s proposal is a $17 million investment that Senator Hanson-Young was instrumental in pursuing during our Restoring the Rivers debate. This $17 million will be invested in making sure that there is a patchwork of habitat for bird species around the area so that there is the right type of food, the right type of nesting habitat for those bird species, and not just in one location – across the whole range the a species might be visiting in the region and making sure also that different bird species have the sort of habitat that they need to persist in the natural environment.

I’m very pleased with the cooperation that we’ve had from the South Australian government and the support we’ve had from the Greens and other crossbenchers to make sure that we deliver on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. We’ve achieved more in the two years since coming to government than was done in the previous 10 years of the Coalition Government towards achieving the outcomes of the Murray Darling Basin Plan, and we’re determined to get this done. We’re determined to get it done for the people of South Australia, and we’re determined to get it done for the plants and animals that call this incredible river system home. Thanks.

SARAH HANSON-YOUNG, SENATOR FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIA: Well, I’m proud to be here with the Deputy Premier and the Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek. This is an important investment in South Australia’s environment, in one of our most precious places – and that, of course, is the Coorong and the Lower Lakes.

This is Storm Boy country. This is the precious Coorong that South Australians know and love. And over the years that I’ve been in Federal Parliament we’ve seen a decrease in the numbers of native species, visiting species, those important migratory birds, and a decline in the state of the health of the environment at the lower end of the Murray. And it’s time we turned that around. That’s why last year after some good, thoughtful and important negotiations with Tanya Plibersek and the Federal Government we were able to put the Murray-Darling Basin Plan back on track and get the water flowing down through the river system as is needed.

For far too long, greed and over extraction has come at the cost of saving our river for the future generations and saving our river for the environment. Now we can start restoring what has been taken away for far too long. And as we head into a more drying period as climate change gets hotter and worse, it will be the Lower Lakes and the Coorong that feel the brunt. And that is why this investment now over the next two years is so essential to look after our native shorebirds, to look after our native animals and to make sure that those that visit from around the world as migratory birds have a place here in South Australia to call home.

This is an important place, an important part of nature for not just our broader South Australian community but the local Indigenous community as well, the Ngarrindjeri people. We know that they are so connected to this land, and I’m so grateful and happy to see this $17 million being spent in their – on their country in ways that will incorporate and work with them so that we can save the species that they have been looking after for generations and generations and hundreds – and tens of thousands of years. Thank you.

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Thanks. Now, any questions about this project?

JOURNALIST: Yes. So can you tell me a little bit about what agencies or departments are going to be using this $17 million?

CLOSE: So we’ll be working with the Department of Environment and Water and the Landscape Board in that area, what used to be called the NRM Board, to identify the projects. We already have a lot of work occurring, and so this will be able to add to the work that’s already in existence. But, importantly, we’ll be working with community and with First Nations people, largely the Ngarrindjeri but also further to the south east other groups who are traditional owners.

What’s really fantastic about this project is it gives us licence to do what we know we need to do. We already have a lot of plans. We can now build on that alongside the community and get going very, very quickly.

JOURNALIST: Last year we saw a community consultation period about what to do in the Coorong and it came up with a three-pronged approach. This certainly seems to address one of those prongs. Another would be changing the salinity in the north, maybe putting infrastructure in to change that as well. How are those plans coming along?

CLOSE: We’re still working through what to do about that salinity issue. There’s quite a lot of debate about the infrastructure that would best work. And so we’re still working through those other prongs. What we do know is that restoring wetlands drives a healthier environment. It means that it’s a better habitat for the variety of different kinds of bird species, and the healthier the habitat is the healthier the natural environment is.

JOURNALIST: And how important do you see this as a long-term investment when we see the Coorong is healthier because of the floods last year. But, you know, dry times might be coming up.

CLOSE: The long-term investment needs to be in the environmental water coming down the Murray River. And that’s what the legislation has finally allowed us to see will happen. South Australia signed up to the Murray-Darling Basin Agreement because 450 gigalitres of water was put into that plan to say that will come down to benefit the Southern Basin. Then immediately we had 10 years of complete inaction and, in fact, worse than that – of sabotage by the Morrison Government during that period. We now have 20-odd gigalitres of the 450, they were largely signed off by Minister Plibersek.

So essentially there has been a terrible period of inaction caused by the sabotage of that government, but also by a lack of preparedness to buy water from voluntary sellers in order to get the water coming down. The legislative changes that were made late last year have opened that up and so we are now able to do this in a variety of ways, including buying from willing sellers. When we start to see that water really getting into the hands of the commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, we will see the long-term sustainability of the Murray Darling Basin, particularly the Southern Basin.

Because, as you say, we have had magnificent benefit from those floods; a lot of hardship for communities along the river, but environmental benefits that we don’t want to walk backwards from. The only way we capitalise that in a drying period is by having more water in the hands of the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder. And that doesn’t just help the environment; that helps the sustainability of a healthy working basin. We do not have irrigation long into the future if we don’t look after the environment, if we don’t have the Murray mouth open, if we don’t have the Lower Lakes operating because that’s how salinity moves through the system. If we don’t want to see the place silt up, if we don’t want to see it become salty, we have to get that water down the Murray.

And I congratulate these two women for the roles they’re playing, particularly, of course, the leadership of Tanya Plibersek, but very necessarily the votes from the Greens in the Senate to get that legislation changed and to have some money also put aside for habitats on top of that. This is a win-win. This is South Australia benefitting from finally a Federal Government and a Federal Parliament that cares. And we will use every cent of that to see good habitat and good environmental outcomes.

JOURNALIST: Minister, for you, can you talk more on those long-term benefits of the Murray Darling Basin Plan? Changes were made a few months ago. What’s been the community reaction since the last two months or so?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, the Murray-Darling Basin Plan was conceived because we knew that we were taking too much water out of this magnificent river system and that the impact would be there on nature, on communities with their drinking water, on industry and agriculture if we didn’t get this right, if we didn’t work out how to share the water better so there was enough for every use.

As Deputy Premier Close said, over the last 10 years we’ve seen stunning inaction and, in fact, deliberate sabotage of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. We’ve got it back on track now. With the passing of the Restoring our Rivers Bill at the end of last year with the support of the crossbench, including the Greens, we were able to get the plan back on track by putting in more money, by allowing more time for projects to be delivered, by also insist on more accountability. In too many instances states have made commitments and then not kept those commitments, and the result of that is not enough water in the river system.

So more time, more money, more accountability and more options. We know that New South Wales and Victoria, they’re not keen on buybacks. Buybacks will have to be part of delivering on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, and the Restoring our Rivers Bill at the end of last year has made clear that all of these options have to be on the table.

The result will be more secure drinking water, more secure water for industry and agriculture and, vitally, it will be a much better outcome for our environment. Our task is to put about 180,000 Olympic-size swimming pools worth of water back into the river system every year. And so far since coming to government we’ve got to about ten and a half thousand Olympic-size swimming pools. That is a great step forward, but it shows that there’s still more to do.

JOURNALIST: You mentioned you were getting a little bit of resistance from New South Wales and Victoria. Is that coming from the government level or more at a local level? What’s the feedback?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: No, to be fair to New South Wales, they signed on to the agreement very early on. They said that they didn’t like buybacks but they understood that the commonwealth government was responsible for delivering the plan and that buybacks would be part of the range of options that we need to pursue to achieve the plan.

Victoria has been more difficult, but I’m pleased to say that Victoria has come on board and has made it clear in writing that they understand that the Restoring our Rivers Bill applies to every state and territory covered by the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, and it includes the full delivery of the plan, including that 450 gigalitres the Deputy Premier is talking about. I understand that state governments will not always agree with every element of the plan. What’s important is that we work together to deliver the plan as a whole. And that’s the agreement we’ve got now, and that’s what gives me hope that in years to come, beautiful places like the Coorong and the Lower Lakes will receive the water that they need to maintain life, maintain life and maintain the environment.

JOURNALIST: $17 million is nothing to be sneezed at. Though it does seem this was kind of planned when the legislative changes were made. Is there any plan to give more money perhaps to the Coorong for changes that we’re talking about –

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: What have the Romans done for me lately? Look, we continue to work with the Government of South Australia not just on the Coorong and the Lower Lakes but on a whole range of environmental and water issues, and as we do with the other states and territories. In fact, because the New South Wales Government and the ACT Governments signed up to support the Restoring our Rivers package, you know, last year, the New South Wales Government has benefitted to the tune of about $115 million and the ACT Government to the tune of about $58 million to continue the work that they’re doing to get more water back into our river systems. There are a range of projects right across this vast area that we’re doing to improve the environment and we’ll continue to work on those projects.

JOURNALIST: Hate to be a Debbie Downer – you mentioned it’s a win-win, but it wasn’t any of your governments of course, but six years ago we did see $70 million committed to the Coorong region by the federal government. How do we know that this will create more action than it did six years ago?

CLOSE: Well, that funding was spent and is being spent on the Coorong. And, look, I love Canberra money – the more money that comes we will spend. So that was fine. The problem with that money was that it was a quid pro quo by the minister at the time, David Speirs, now the Leader of the Opposition, to agree to some socioeconomic criteria which basically stifled any chance of getting the 450 gigalitres. That was found to be true by a royal commission. You don’t have to believe me as a politician; a royal commission found that that was a capitulation to its eastern states’ interests. And for that yes, he got some money for the Coorong, and we always welcome it and we’re spending it, but it’s a pretty steep price to give away the 450 gigalitres that we need for the environment.

In this case the reason I call it a win-win is we’re getting the basin plan finally back on track, a government that’s willing and prepared to spend the money required to get that water, and also thanks in no small measure to the Australian Greens has given us another 17 million to spend on habitat. That’s why that’s a win-win – because South Australia hasn’t had to give anything up in this instance. But, as I say, more money, we’ll spend it.

JOURNALIST: Absolutely. Senator, just a couple for you: I think yourself and your party made it clear that you’re much happier with this government than you were with the Morrison government in terms of water planning.

HANSON-YOUNG: Much happier having Tanya Plibersek running the show than Barnaby Joyce, I can tell you that.

JOURNALIST: What kind of influence has the Greens had, particularly in South Australia, around this plan?

HANSON-YOUNG: This has been an important part of our negotiations. The minister and I sat down very honestly and openly and said, you know, what would it take to get this plan back on track, what did South Australia need. I was very clear in my conversations with the minister and her government that South Australia must get that 450 gigalitres delivered. And we need to be making sure we’re looking after and restoring the environment that had lost so much under the Coalition government.

It is just unthinkable that when Barnaby Joyce was the Minister for Water he told South Australians if they wanted to keep the Coorong alive, if they wanted clean drinking water they should move to Queensland. They should move north. I mean, that is the attitude from the Coalition when they were in government. And they looked after their mates in the big upstream irrigators. They looked after their mates and South Australia was left high and dry.

So we have been able to get the plan back on track. That 450 gigalitres will be delivered for the river, for the environment, for South Australia. And this extra 17 million over the next two years for the Coorong is vital to look after the local environment there.

This is – and this is what happens when you put, you know, Greens in the balance of power, when you’ve got the opportunity to negotiate. And, you know, the question before about, you know, should we be asking the minister for some more money, let’s see! Let’s see what we need to do next time in terms of trying to get things through the Parliament.

But this is a good news story for South Australia. This is politics working well. This is being cooperative, reasonable, direct. And, you know, sometimes people from different parties, we can get together, share ideas and get some good stuff done, and that’s what we’ve done for South Australia.

JOURNALIST: Just one more for you, sorry – you’re a South Australian yourself.

HANSON-YOUNG: Yeah.

JOURNALIST: The Coorong I’m sure is very close to your heart. On a personal note, what does this mean to you?

HANSON-YOUNG: This is so important to me. I was just reflecting with my staff actually that my very first action 16 years ago when I first stepped foot in the Senate was to set up a Senate inquiry into the health of the Coorong. That was 16 years ago. And back then it was the height the millennial drought, the environment was suffering. Talk about salinity levels – it was hypersaline in the Coorong. And 16 years later we’re starting to turn back the clock, put more water to the environment, look after our beautiful native species, give the Indigenous community a say over how to look after and protect their country. It means a lot. This is Storm Boy country. South Australians are proud of it. And here we are today putting money on the table to protect it forever.

JOURNALIST: Thank you all.

LANGLEY: I’m the President of Birds SA, which is the local bird environmental organisation. We’ve got more than a thousand members here in South Australia.

Look, there is a really large diverse habitat down there from the Coorong down to the Lower Lakes and down into the sort of swampland down right in the south east. And with a big chunk of money – and thanks to Minister Plibersek and to Sarah Hanson-Young, this is a really big chunk of money. And I’m sure that we can be working with the Department of the Environment and Water and also with Birdlife Australia to come up with a mix of really effective schemes that could deliver local results quite quickly.

JOURNALIST: Can you tell me about the concerns you’ve had about the native birdlife up until this point?

LANGLEY: Well, look, there are very significant concerns, particularly around the migratory species. They suffer – as you know, these birds, they go all the way from here, 10, 12,000 kilometres up to the Siberian Arctic and then come back. And all through China and Korea, it’s a really difficult environment for them to get here. So when they get here, what we want them to have is a sanctuary, and a healthy sanctuary, so that they can recover and fatten up for their journey up again, because they’re doing this twice a year.

So having that migratory – having these migratory sanctuaries in a healthy state, in a protected and safe state, is so important. And I’m sure that with this funding we could actually strengthen a huge variety. I can imagine 10 or 20 sites that I can imagine could be supported with this money.

JOURNALIST: You mentioned that, you know, this money will help get it to a healthy state. I assume that means they’re not in a healthy state now.

LANGLEY: Well, I think they’re in a vulnerable state now. I think that’s the point. And climate change is clearly not helping at all. And so what we’re looking for, what we’ll be looking to do here is to put these into a more permanent, more stable, more secure state so that they can withstand the natural ebb and flow of drought and flood but also withstand the long-term pressures of climate change.

JOURNALIST: Obviously the Coorong is not the only place where birds live in Australia. What makes it so special compared to other bird habitats? You might have touched on that already, but –

LANGLEY: Look, I think that the key thing here is the size and length of this system. It’s a huge system with lots of micro systems in there. But one example I’ll give here is just when you look at these migratory birds, they’re waders and they’ve got beaks. And they’ve got beaks that vary from this to this. And what that means is – and they are like that because every wader needs a different habitat. So some need mud and things that are this deep and some need this deep and some of them have got scooped bills which just take off the surface.

So what we need here is diversity. And what this – and what we’ve got down in the south east and in this area is huge diversity. And what we need to do is protect that diversity and not come into some monoculture where we’ve just got deep water. We need this diversity that was there originally and protected by the First Nations people, and we need to restore that diversity of habitat.

JOURNALIST: Thanks so much.