The Minister for Water in the new Rudd government, Penny Wong, is from South Australia and there has been some mumbling -- mostly behind closed doors -- that South Australian politicians are inevitably parochial when it comes to water policy.
Several South Australian ministers made up John Howard's Federal Cabinet and they were usually quick to scuttle proposals that did not suit South Australia.
For example when the Commonwealth's Standing Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries handed down an interim report in March 2004 that did not support the need for more environmental water flows, then Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, quickly and publicly had the reports findings squashed.
Soon after becoming Water Minister, Senator Wong met with South Australian irrigators, and according to one of the irrigator leaders, Tim Whetstone, a solid platform for further discussions was established, including the need for water reform within the Murray-Darling Basin.
Of course "water reform" within the Murray-Darling Basin has been on the national agenda since Federation and much progress has already been made.
In the past 20 years there has been the salinity and drainage strategy of 1988; imposition of a national cap on water extractions in 1995; an inquiry into the restoration of flows to the Snowy in 1998, and in June 2004 the Howard Government announced a new "National Water Initiative" followed by the "National Plan for Water Security" in January last year.
Announcements from federal Labor before the recent election correctly explained that the Howard government's $10 billion "National Plan for Water Security" was designed primarily to address water issues in the Murray-Darling Basin. But the message was clear there was also a need to address "the water crisis in our coastal towns and cities where 18 million Australians live".
Cities like Brisbane and Perth are leading the way with waste water recycling and desalination, and it is Labor policy to extend this program nationally.
Perhaps if Adelaide embraced both desalination and waste water recycling it would be less dependent on the Murray River, and South Australians could worry less about perceived upstream threats to its water supply.
Meanwhile, newly elected independent South Australian, Senator Nick Xenophon, who may hold the balance of power in the new Senate, has promised to be parochial, and look out for South Australia's interests particularly when it comes to water.
It will be interesting to see how this new era in Australian water politics plays out.
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