Bob Katter (Kennedy, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My question without notice is to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister would be aware that the northern one-third of Australia has over 50 per cent of our arable land and 305 million megalitres of our annual rainfall, whilst the remaining two-thirds has only 83 million megalitres. Since the southern two-thirds produces 89 per cent of Australia’s agriculture, most off the Murray-Darling, would he not agree that past governments have overtaxed the south’s resources, whilst in sharp contrast north Australians have suffered an ever-increasing deprivation of their land and water resources? Finally, in the light of this, could the Prime Minister consider the radical proposed North Australia clean energy corridor which, whilst providing one-tenth of the government’s clean energy targets, would only utilise a miniscule one-tenth of one-hundredth of this water and land resource? Alternatively, could the Prime Minister remove the reference to ‘golden soil and wealth for toil’ from our national anthem?

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