Senator RUSTON (South Australia—Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources) (15:06): I will direct through you, Madam Deputy President, to Senator Farrell, some advice: we have two choices in relation to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. We can sit down at the table and discuss how we are going to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full, and that includes the 450 gigalitres of so-called upwater to which the senator, I assume, is referring. We can do that—just as I have arranged to do so with minister Hunt this weekend. We are going to sit down and we are going to talk through ways that we can resolve this unnecessary impasse that has occurred through a whole heap of overly-heated discussion that has not really been based in fact. We can do that, or we can do something else— Senator Farrell: You know— Senator RUSTON: We can do something else, Senator Farrell: we can blow the plan up. South Australia, through its actions since this discussion has started has basically put on the table that it would rather blow up the plan for political imperative and political outcome than actually work with us to deliver a plan and all the challenges that go with the situation that occurs when you are trying to achieve environmental outcomes—return of water to the river system to deliver environmental outcomes. At the same time we have to be very mindful of the fact that we have a very strong economy in rural and regional Australia, and much of it exists along the Murray-Darling Basin corridor. We need to make sure that we do not destroy those river communities and also destroy the underpinning component of agriculture in our regional communities at the same time. We have agreed in this place and we have agreed through the negotiation between the governments that exist within the Murray-Darling Basin that we are going to deliver 2,750 gigalitres of water for environmental use via the plan, and that an additional 450 gigalitres will be delivered through an agreement between the governments in a way that does not have any detrimental impact on the river communities that rely so heavily on this water. We have the situation where we have identified that we have some challenges. We always knew the delivery of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan was going to be difficult. But with great fanfare we celebrated the passing of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and everything that went with it. We were all proud. We took a bipartisan approach to the delivery of this plan for the betterment of Australia, its river, its communities and the people who live along the river system. So we were all very pleased about that. What I am calling on the South Australian government for is—and I did this this morning, when I wrote an opinion piece in the paper—please, do not blow up the plan. Please do not do that, because that is what you will do if you continue to pursue the political outcomes that you are trying to achieve by destroying this plan. This is not going to serve the best interests of the health of the Murray-Darling Basin or of South Australia. Blowing up the plan is not going to achieve, nine years out of 10, the water flows out of the Murray Mouth. Blowing up the plan is not going to deliver water to the Chowilla wetlands, which are at the back door of the place where I live. They are on the Murray River, a place that I love. There is nobody in this place, Senator Farrell, through you, Madam Deputy President, who is more determined to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full for the betterment of the river system, of the river communities that rely on it and for everybody in Australia who benefits from a healthy Murray-Darling Basin than I am. Senator Gallacher: Take it up with your boss, Barnaby! Senator RUSTON: I would call on you and your colleagues, Senator Gallacher, and Senator Wong, to make sure that you impress on Premier Weatherill and Minister Hunter that the most important thing they can do is to work with us, the federal government, and with the governments of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT, to make sure that we deliver this plan, because if we do not sit down and have these discussions and work out how we are going to do that then the plan gets blown up. And it will be on your head and on the head of the South Australian Labor government if that happens. I certainly call on you—and why don't you stand by me?—to help me, to help Senator Birmingham, to help Senator Fawcett and to help Senator Bernardi. Why don't you stand next to us and help us deliver this plan? Because you know, Premier Weatherill knows, Senator Gallacher knows and Minister Hunter knows that the Commonwealth government cannot change the plan without bringing it back to this place and getting this parliament to change it. They also know, as you know, that we cannot change the 450 gigalitres of up-water without the agreement of all states, including South Australia. Stop your scaremongering; save the Murray! (Time expired)