The practice of dumping partially-treated sewage into the sea off our coastline, especially near beaches used by families and surfers, is abhorrent to most people. Yet this 19th century custom persists throughout 21st century Australia.

In my electorate alone, 150 billion litres of lightly-treated waste water is discharged into the sea each year at Gunnamatta on the Mornington Peninsula, right next to one of the most popular surf beaches in Victoria.

Apart from considerations of health and hygiene, and the undoubted impact on our marine ecology, there are other, more pressing, reasons why the continued operation of ocean outfalls such as Gunnamatta is unconscionable.

Australia’s devastating drought, booming population and the effects of climate change are stretching existing water resources to the limit and forcing governments and water authorities throughout Australia to look for ways to supplement and secure our water supply.

In light of this, the dumping of billions of litres of recyclable water into the ocean each year is not only wasteful, it is completely unsustainable.

Water security and supply is shaping up to be one of the most important issues of the coming century, not only here in Australia but right around the world.

Years of mismanagement by State Governments has had a disastrous impact on the Murray-Darling river system yet the Rudd Government seems unwilling or unable to take solid action to fix this crisis.

There is $6 billion of funding, set aside by the former Coalition Government, just waiting to be spent on vital on-farm infrastructure upgrades. This money was and remains frozen by the Rudd Government.

The time for action is now. We need nothing short of a water revolution. We need to stop dumping our most precious resource into the ocean and we need to move quickly to build the water infrastructure that will carry us forward into the next century.

So, what measures, small or large, do you think we can take to better preserve our water resources?