I rise to speak on what I believe is a matter of great national public importance-that is, our dying wetlands and the inaction by both state and federal governments which seems to be making this happen even faster. In this instance, I am going to talk about water theft from the Macquarie Marshes because it typifies some of the bigger problems that are occurring around water management. This highlights the major problems that need to be addressed if we are to have any hope of recovering our wetlands and rivers.

"How many times do we have to prove that a pipeline from the Kimberley is economically stupid and environmentally disastrous?" said Senator Rachel Siewert today.

"Paul Omodei's latest pipedream is little different to the 'Far Canal' proposal that proved so disastrous for the Liberals at the last state election, or the handful of other 'visionary' populist proposals cooked up in an economic and ecological vacuum," she said.

"Does the Prime Minister finally get it now?"

"Have the Coalition finally realised that the Murray is dying and they can't fiddle anymore when urgent action is needed?"

"Prime Minister Howard's climate denial over 11 years has meant that he has presided over "collapse". Is he still sceptical about these "gloomy predictions"?"

"The government's failure to acknowledge the link between drought and climate change has been the death-knell of the Murray and the farming communities that rely on it."

The Greens are supportive of the Farm Household Support Amendment Bill 2007.

However, it raises a number of issues that we think are important and need to be given an airing and discussed. Drought, we know, has a devastating impact on the agricultural community-on farms themselves, on farmers and on their families. Senator O'Brien has mentioned the impact on mental health. Drought also has an impact on small businesses, on businesses within the agricultural community, on towns, on the health of towns and on the environment and natural resource management.

I thank senators for their contributions to this very important debate. I admit I have been disappointed with the government representatives' input into the debate. It appears from Senator McGauran's input today that he did not listen to the first part of the debate yesterday-and I will come back to that in a minute. But it also appears that the government does not want to support this because there is only so much time and there are only so many resources to deal with things-implying there were not enough resources for the committee to examine this.

I rise today to move this reference to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee:
That:

(a) the Senate notes the likely impacts on agriculture, the community and the environment of the proposed dam on the Mary River at Traveston Crossing in Queensland; and

(b) the following matters be referred to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee for inquiry and report by 27 March 2007:

Water plan clearly rushed - PM missed big opportunity

"It is becoming increasingly apparent that the Prime Minister's big spending water plan is policy on the run," said Senator Rachel Siewert today.

"It is an effort to neutralise water and climate as election issues with buckets of money, rather than a thought-through whole-of-government approach."

"Not only did the PM fail to consult with the States, but we now learn that he also failed to talk to key decision makers within government departments," said Senator Siewert.

My question is to Senator Ian Campbell, the Minister for the Environment and Heritage. Is the minister aware of the findings in the Australia state of the environment 2006 report, released today, about the dramatic impact on wetlands-that the ecological characteristics of 22 Ramsar wetlands have changed?

Is the minister aware of the latest report on the Coorong which shows its ecological characteristics have changed?

The broad aim of the Convention on Wetlands, or, as it is better known, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, is to halt the worldwide loss of wetlands and to conserve those that remain through wise use and management.The implementation of the convention on wetlands is guided by its mission statement, which is:

The conservation and wise use of wetlands, by national action and international cooperation as a means to achieving sustainable development throughout the world.