Mr McCORMACK (Riverina—Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development and Leader of The Nationals) (14:57): I tell the member for Hunter that I don't get bullied by anyone—no-one. I'm not scared of you. I'm not scared of anyone, Member for Hunter. Certainly, I'm pleased that I'm in a coalition government where the Prime Minister also believes in building dams. Liberal prime ministers have always believed in building dams, and that's why we're getting on and going to build a dam. We're going to do it with the Queensland government. We're also going to do it with the irrigators of the Granite Belt— Opposition members interjecting— The SPEAKER: The Acting Prime Minister will pause. Members on my left will cease interjecting. Mr McCORMACK: They're very noisy today, Mr Speaker. The SPEAKER: No. I haven't called you yet. Mr Fitzgibbon interjecting— The SPEAKER: The member for Hunter will contain himself, otherwise he'll be out of the chamber. Mr McCORMACK: No, keep him here. He's a good fellow. We had a cup of tea yesterday. The SPEAKER: No-one outside of the chamber can hear a word of what you're saying. Because I haven't called you, your microphone is not on. The Acting Prime Minister has the call. Mr McCORMACK: We are getting on, as I said in my earlier answer, with building the water infrastructure to help further droughtproof this nation. There will be shovels in the ground for the Emu Swamp Dam—all things being equal—before year's end. That is going to be a very special day. August 3 was a red-letter day—you could call it a blue-letter day—for water infrastructure in this nation because that's the day Dr Anthony Lynham, the minister responsible for water in Queensland, signed on the dotted line, after perhaps years of negotiation, to get the Emu Swamp Dam project ratified. I commend Brent Finlay and irrigators in that area for having the confidence to back themselves to the tune of $24.3 million. Pastoralist and pioneering Riverina irrigator Sir Samuel McCaughey, of whom there is a statue near Yanco, was correct when he said in 1909 that water was more precious than gold. Of course he was right then and it is still the case today—water is our most precious resource. That's why we're going to get on with the job of building dams. I was delighted that the CSIRO last year identified in three catchments the potential for six dam sites. We're going to get on and build the water infrastructure that Australia needs. I remember when those opposite were in power and the member for Watson came to Griffith and they burned the draft of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, because they were so aggravated by his water resource ideas; they were so absolutely aggrieved by the position he took. If those opposite had won on 18 May, buybacks would have been back. They would have sent most of the water of the Murray-Darling—what little water there is—out of the mouth of the Murray, because that is their policy. Well, we're not going to do that, and we're not going to be deterred by the Victorian water minister, Lisa Neville, who today, ruling out dams in that southern state, said: New dams do not create any new water. They simply take it from somewhere else … I ask those opposite: do they agree with that position?