Senator SANTORO (7:36 PM) —At the weekend, I had the honour and the privilege of attending and taking part in the annual tribute to the American dead of Bakers Creek and Mackay. These 40 Americans died in 1943 in what remains Australia’s worst air crash. Today is the 62nd anniversary of that crash. Before these American servicemen died so far away from their homes and their loved ones, they had become part of Mackay’s extended family of the wartime years. They are remembered today—and honoured in that memory—by the civic government of the city, the residents of Mackay, and their immediate families and descendants in America.

The Australian-American connection is very deep, and the Bakers Creek Memorial signifies that relationship in a very special way. The memorial is also unique in that it marks a civil accident in a time of war and it exists on two continents. This year’s Washington commemoration is due to start in a few hours. Our links with America, and America’s with us, are soundly based on shared values: democracy, the rule of law, heritage, decency, the determination to face down evil and the commitment to stand up for what is right. It is firmly based on commonsense and mutual interest.

In Mackay on Saturday night we gathered as friends, from both sides of the Pacific Ocean, for fellowship, to renew acquaintance, to make new friends and to celebrate the lives of the Bakers Creek heroes. They were heroes, not victims, and we must never forget it. They died in a foreign land while engaged in a deadly fight against a determined enemy in conditions of total war. In wartime secrets must be kept and at times information must be withheld from family and kin. But when the conflict is over and the operational reasons for secrecy no longer exist, important information must be revealed. The tremendous work of the two Bakers Creek associations—here in Australia and across our shared ocean in America—has kept the flame alive. It has helped some of our American friends finally understand what happened to their loved one who went away to war and did not return. That is a public service of the highest degree.

There are two catalysts for the Bakers Creek Memorial: the historian of the Mackay RSL, Col Benson, and American professor Bob Cutler in Washington, DC. They are themselves heroes—heroes to history, for ensuring that a story from the past does not die. They are certainly heroes to the families of the Bakers Creek dead for pursuing the dream of a proper memorial. To reveal the truth, to help bring closure after some desperately sad event, even six decades later, is an act of kindness. So often these things come down to the energy and commitment of individuals, people who just will not let go. Great endeavours, like great causes, need catalysts. Col and Bob are very good catalysts indeed.

The memorial dinner on Saturday night was a convivial occasion, presided over with skill by the master of ceremonies for the occasion, Mr John Pickup. One of Australia’s two Vietnam War Victoria Cross winners, Keith Payne, was also at the dinner and read the Ode to the Fallen. Warrant Officer Payne is as feisty in retirement as he ever was in the Army, by the way. I believe our American guests—Brigadier-General Bradley Baker, Vice Commander, 5th Air Force, who was here from Japan for the anniversary; Jack and Ginger Ogren from New Hampshire; and Frank Smith III and his wife Dot with Frank Smith IV and sister Kelly Sellers—enjoyed themselves.

The commemoration on Sunday was a solemn occasion, as was proper. Visiting the site of the crash was a most moving experience for both the American visitors and the accompanying party. The emotion was palpable in the relatives of two of the American servicemen who perished on that fateful day in 1943. The site is surrounded by very healthy mangroves. The site itself, which was mangroves at the time, remains bereft of trees today.

The Bakers Creek air crash is one of an innumerable compendium of human disasters from World War II. Each man who died in that crash was a casualty of war. They were not where they were by misadventure; they were there because their country told them to be there. That is why we must always honour them. We know that six decades ago the people of Mackay took these men to their hearts. We know they made them feel as much at home as possible in the circumstances of war and so far away from their real homes and loved ones. And the people of Mackay, both individually and through their civic government, continue doing that today. Bakers Creek is part of their history too. Mackay of course is a very special place inhabited by special people: people such as Ed Casey, the veteran former state member for the area, who played an initial—and absolutely vital, I add—role in the project to make a permanent memorial.

I became interested in the project and the history behind it when in 2003 I had the honour of meeting the American party here in Australia for the 60th anniversary. I told the Senate about it in an adjournment speech at the time. On that occasion the Bakers Creek pilgrims were led by Alvin—Mo—and Vera Berg, from Texas. I believe they enjoyed the Brisbane hospitality that was afforded to them. There is also today significant interest in the Bakers Creek story in the American legislature. For today’s Washington ceremony at the new World War II memorial there, Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania has contributed a message, and there is legislation in congress to provide for a memorial marker, perhaps at Arlington.

The Americans who died at Bakers Creek 62 years ago were in our country on furlough, what we would nowadays call R&R. They were resting from the conflict then raging in the south-west Pacific. Tragedy gave them a permanent home in our country. For all time, these men are part of our story too. Today again we stand with the Americans in defence of freedom. We are companions, again, on a dangerous journey through a world that is threatened by new and deadly challenges. That single fact—the fact that we must again work together to confront evil and to protect ourselves and our communities and our way of life—gives extra reason to remember the sacrifice of those who went before. Times change and the benefits of hard won freedom, both social and economic, have immeasurably altered how all of us live. Former enemies are now friends. We move on, but we do not forget. Every nation is entitled to its remembrance and to honour its dead.

I want to continue my remarks by speaking about the Water Smart Australia program, a great initiative of the forward-thinking Howard government. I also want to canvass some of the details of a very practical initiative that has come forward for funding consideration from the great Queensland city of Toowoomba. As so many Australians know to their own direct cost, many areas of our country are subject to highly variable rainfall patterns. Consistency is not nature’s way. Water crises happen quickly in Australia. As a community we have to react quickly too. For example, from July sprinklers are to be banned in Brisbane, a sensible response to water shortage but an imperative to suburban gardeners to find better ways of creating and sustaining cool green gardens.

The recent good rains in the south-east of Australia have brought some relief to farmers and agricultural communities in South Australia and Victoria and in parts of New South Wales. But the rain has not reached northern NSW, which is desperately parched, or those many areas of Queensland that are afflicted by long-term drought. In any case, good follow-up rain is still needed. Water is life: there was never a truer statement made. As we also know, the drought of 2002—which for some Australian farmers has become the drought of 2002-05—revealed again the inconsistent nature of the water supply and our vulnerability. Our cities, agricultural industries and aspects of our environment are all subject to prolonged dry conditions and are all vulnerable to them. We know too that many water catchments and aquifers are under stress, and some are reaching the limits of their sustainable capacity. In these circumstances Australia must make use of the many opportunities that exist to better use the supplies of water already developed. We must make use too of human ingenuity to employ new technology and infrastructure, and to develop new and sustainable sources of supply. Australian clean water technology is world renowned, and rightly so. Only this month I was in China, where the great work that Hervey Bay City Council and Wide Bay Water are doing in the city of Leshan is an effective reminder of this.

It was with Australian ingenuity in mind that in June last year the federal government and most state governments agreed to implement the National Water Initiative. It was signed in recognition of the national imperative to increase the productivity and efficiency of Australia’s use of water in servicing population centres and sustaining healthful river and ground water systems. Under this agreement the $2 billion Australian government water fund came into being to provide investment funding for selected water projects. These projects need to be practical on-ground water projects that improve national water efficiency. They need to create opportunities for industries, private investment and employment—and at the same time protect, and where necessary restore, the environment.

This is not an impossible task, merely a very hard one that will require a lot of effort. Australians are good at meeting challenges. The key word is ‘practical’. It almost always is, and this is where some of the deeper green elements of the environmental lobby and their political representatives get a little off beam. A practical objective is to develop an agricultural and industrial sector that leads the world in the careful and efficient use of water, and to bring about sustainable household and garden water consumption. It is to provide greater preservation of Australia’s rivers and wetlands, which are unique, and to promote our water technology. These are among the practical objectives of the National Water Initiative for 2015, just a decade away. We obviously need to work towards achieving these objectives on a cooperative, community, national—and nationwide—basis.

In Queensland, three projects—at the Gold Coast, in Mackay where I was at the weekend and in Bundaberg—have already been approved for federal investment totalling $32.2 million under the Water Smart Australia component of the $2 billion Australian water fund. The Gold Coast project is particularly interesting to me, given that the Gold Coast is Queensland’s second largest city and a place where water is always an issue. It is getting $3.15 million over four years towards an investment of $9.45 million to reduce water leakage and stress on current water supplies and provide more water to the city through cutting waste.

Applications for funding under the first round of the National Water Initiative close on 30 June. One application that is coming forward in the first round is for $18.3 million from the Australian government water fund to assist with the $64 million Water Futures Toowoomba project. Toowoomba City Council, a highly progressive civic government very ably led by Mayor Dianne Thorley, believes its project can demonstrate to Australia the science of indirect potable reuse of water as a safe and sustainable component of future water supply. The $64 million project costs would be made up of $19.35 million from Toowoomba City Council, matched by $19.5 million from the Queensland government, the proposed AGWF grant of $18.3 million and private investment of $7 million.

Mayor Thorley and the Toowoomba City Council’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Chris Rose, came to see me recently to update me on the proposal. One interesting aspect of the proposal is that its cost is less than that of building a new dam to create Toowoomba’s fourth source of water. Toowoomba is an exciting and vibrant city. It would be, of course; it is in Queensland—and I am sure Senator Moore opposite would agree with me—

Senator Ian Macdonald —I agree.

Senator Moore —I agree with you.

Senator SANTORO —I think there is unanimous agreement in the chamber that Toowoomba is indeed one of the great vibrant and exciting cities of Queensland.

Senator McGauran —Always!

Senator SANTORO —Always. But it is also a city with some specific and indeed unique requirements as well as attributes. One of its benefits is its altitude. At 700 metres it enjoys a temperate climate and, as I have said in the Senate before, the city rivals Canberra in the colourful splendour of its exotic deciduous trees. But this is also a debit. It is a debit because its water has to be lifted almost 500 metres from its source dams. This costs $1.5 million a year and delivers water at 60c a kilolitre from Toowoomba’s taps. The city has the second highest water delivery costs in Australia after Kalgoorlie in WA, a fact that I am sure is appreciated by Senators Eggleston and Lightfoot, who are present in the chamber tonight.

Toowoomba has 94,000 people within its city boundaries. It is Queensland’s largest inland provincial city and also Australia’s largest regional inland city and serves a wider population base of 300,000. Significant drought over the past 10 years and consistent population growth, along with increasing demand, have made water supply the most significant issue for Toowoomba and the surrounding area. It is clear that the growth demands of the Brisbane coastal conurbation have ended any expectation that Toowoomba could source additional water from the giant Wivenhoe Dam in the Brisbane Valley. The urgency in finding reliable and sustainable irrigation water also sparked the proposal to pipe Brisbane’s grey water to the Lockyer Valley, incidentally. Of course, as the city’s civic government recognises, there is no one ideal water solution anywhere in Australia, the world’s driest continent. But responsible water management strategies will include multisource water supplies, maximising water resources, effective demand management strategies and a continuing—and, I would hope, over time significantly enhanced—community involvement.

Toowoomba City Council recently approved expenditure of $35 million to upgrade its waste water treatment plant to lift its outfall standard to class A water. This will not only provide a much improved outfall quality into the Murray-Darling catchment but also create a potential drinking water resource. The city council is pursuing opportunities for this resource, including its use by coal and energy producers and of course horticulturalists. Further refinement of this class A water would enable its urban direct non-potable reuse in an adjoining shire and, subject to Queensland Health approval, eventual indirect potable reuse—that is, as drinking water—within Toowoomba.

This is a strong and practical proposal from a proactive local government that really could rewrite the rules with regard to recycled water use. It would contribute significantly to advancing the cause of sustainable water resources in Australia. It would help Australian communities deal with a future in which precious water is likely to be even more finite than ever. The Water Smart program is practical policy development and implementation at its grassroots best and it deserves applause for this.