Mr LITTLEPROUD (Maranoa—Minister for Water Resources, Drought, Rural Finance, Natural Disaster and Emergency Management) (14:53): I thank the member for Mallee for her question and her deep understanding of the importance of water to sustain life and lifestyle in her own electorate. As we work our way through one of the most severe droughts in our nation's history, the importance of leadership and investment in water infrastructure is becoming more evident than ever. It's important to understand that it has never, ever been the responsibility of the federal government to build a dam or a pipeline. Since Federation, it has always been the responsibility of the states. They've enjoyed ownership of that resource. Sadly, since 2003 we have seen only 20 dams built in this country. Sixteen of them have been built in Tasmania because of the leadership of the Liberal government in Tasmania. More concerning, however, is that we will see, particularly across the eastern seaboard, a 37 per cent reduction in storage capacity per person by 2030 unless there is leadership. We as a federal government saw this in 2016 and started the National Water Initiative. We put $800 million out and took that to $1.3 billion. That was coupled with $2 billion from the Regional Investment Corporation, which those opposite voted against, I might add. Only last week the Deputy Prime Minister announced the National Water Grid, because we needed to show the nation the leadership that is required to build the water infrastructure to sustain life and lifestyle, not only in agriculture but in urban Australia. We were at a critical junction. It took leadership to stand up and to stand with the states and say it is time to act and deliver. Sadly, we saw Victoria today say, 'We don't want to build a dam, because we don't think it's ever going to rain again.' Now, when it's dry, is the time to build the infrastructure. It's important that leadership is shown. I advise the House that, after discussions with the New South Wales government this week, we will be working with them in partnership to prioritise a number of projects right across New South Wales to give security to regional New South Wales residents who are facing critical water storage levels. The Deputy Premier himself gave an undertaking that he will stand shoulder to shoulder with those communities to make sure that they do not run out of water. He has shown leadership, with this federal government, and said, 'We will build the water infrastructure of the future, to futureproof population growth and to futureproof our regional and economic growth.' This is an important milestone in our nation's history. We now have leadership from the states, which are going to work shoulder to shoulder in sustaining this precious resource for our lifestyles and our lives.