JOINT PRESS RELEASE

THE HON. TONY ABBOTT MHR, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION

THE HON. ANDREW ROBB MHR,
SHADOW MINISTER FOR FINANCE AND DEBT REDUCTION

SECURING AUSTRALIA’S WATER FUTURE

The floods in Queensland and New South Wales have raised obvious questions about better protecting
people from water damage while improving catchment management. For two decades, governments have
neglected serious options for further dam and major water infrastructure projects. Now is the time to start
the focus on securing the economic and social future of regional communities and our country more
generally.

Australia doesn’t have a rainfall problem as much as a water management problem. At the peak of the
current floods, for instance, more than twice Sydney Harbour’s volume of fresh water has been passing
Rockhampton every day.

Taxpayer funded infrastructure spending should be sensibly and strategically targeted towards projects that
will enhance our economic future. Dam building and expansion could mean opportunities for local
economies, more jobs and improved water management in the Murray Darling basin and elsewhere.

Managed the right way, a dam is a flood mitigation device, a potential provider of zero emissions power, and
a source of environmental flows in dry times as well as means of better water security for farmers. Many
potential dam sites have serious problems. It’s hard to believe, though, that there are no major dam sites left
where economic and social benefits don’t outweigh environmental concerns.

The Coalition will set up a taskgroup of the Hon. Andrew Robb MP (as chairman), Senator Barnaby Joyce,
the Hon Greg Hunt MP and Senator Simon Birmingham to develop a plan focusing on these specific issues
and will consult in coming months with the community, relevant stakeholders and experts. This will be an
important part of deepening our policy engagement with the general public and will form the basis of the
policy the Coalition takes to the next election. It will build on the Coalition’s recent election commitment to
provide up to $500 million towards increasing Australia’s water harvesting capacity including through new
and expanded dams.

The floods have also highlighted the need for the Government to deliver a good plan for the Murray Darling
Basin, unlike the proposed plan that has been released. Regional Australia deserves to have the right plan put
in place to ensure its economic and social future just as much as the environment deserves a sustainable
solution.

Taxpayer funded spending on infrastructure should be targeted to those projects that will drive economic
growth, deliver jobs and investment to the community as well as address real and pressing problems. Only
government can ensure Australia’s water future. This should be at least as important a priority for
government spending as broadband, for instance, which can mostly be delivered through competition
between private sector businesses.

7 January 2011