The Traveston dam decision has bolstered Kevin Rudd’s “green” credentials ahead of a federal election likely to be dominated by environmental issues. But things aren’t looking so rosy for Queensland Premier Anna Bligh.

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Updated on Monday, June 22, 2009 at 08:27AM by stevem

Updated on Monday, June 22, 2009 at 08:36AM by stevem

Updated on Monday, June 22, 2009 at 08:38AM by stevem

Updated on Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 11:01AM by stevem

Deputy Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg yesterday seized on the poll, labelling Ms Bligh a “political dead duck” who would not last until the next election. “She is a compulsive bare-faced liar,” Mr Springborg said. “And once people think you are a liar and see evidence to back it up, then they will always think you are a liar.

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Updated on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 09:24AM by stevem

Updated on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 09:35AM by stevem

Updated on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 09:51AM by stevem

Updated on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 10:00AM by stevem

Updated on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 11:00AM by stevem

The member for Maroochydore, Fiona Simpson, accused the government of budget betrayal for allocating money for a pipeline to the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam but not for a new hospital. “This government is spending $211.5 million this year on the northern pipeline interconnector stage two, which is dependent on Traveston dam. Neither project has environmental approval. This is dumb,” Ms Simpson said.

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There has been a very lively debate in the Qld State parliament (4 Jun 2009) on the proposed amendments to the Water and Another Act Amendment Bill and on the performance of the QLD Water Commission.. These extracts from Hansard show that Traveston and the Mary Valley are still open to lively debate. Mr Messenger: ‘Why is the Premier so reactive? What did she do when she was a child? Did she go to school and grab canteens from all the other schoolchildren, dip them into the toilet to fill them up and maybe put little fluoride tablets in their canteens? Did they give her $10 worth of pocket money and she spent $20?’ This is what we have. We have a Premier who has mismanagement in her DNA. She is reliving some sort of childhood fantasy.” Mr MESSENGER: ‘All the evaporation we will put it on an alluvial plain, we will let it leak out and we will move cemeteries and main roads‘“absolute poppycock. It is absolute craziness that they have gone ahead with this. The member for Gympie said it was going to cost $1.7 billion or $1.5 billion “the government is going backwards in its price. I predict that it will probably cost $2 billion or $3 billion if this government actually goes ahead and displays its normal mismanagement”

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Updated on Thursday, March 26, 2009 at 11:18AM by stevem

Updated on Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 01:11PM by stevem

In her acceptance speech on Saturday night premier Anna Bligh said she would learn from the election result. But by Monday it was clear she had learned nothing from the 4% swing away from Labor, and that we could expect more of the arrogant spin that has increasingly become business as usual for the Queensland Labor government. When asked about the future of the Traveston Crossing Dam Ms Bligh chose to reduce it to a NIMBY issue and not the major environmental debate it has become.

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Updated on Sunday, April 5, 2009 at 09:17AM by stevem

If fewer than 3,000 Queenslanders had changed their votes last Saturday it would be Liberal National Party (LNP) leader Lawrence Springborg choosing the government’s cabinet instead of Anna Bligh. Election analyst Paul Tully says the result was actually a lot closer than the ALP’s 13-seat majority suggests. Ms Bligh would likely not have been victorious had a fraction of the 1,986,531 voters who went to the polls at the weekend opted for the LNP instead of Labor, especially constituents in just a few seats, he said.

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Updated on Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 10:48AM by stevem

THE Bligh Government will push ahead with its plan to build the Traveston dam, despite suffering some electoral pain from the controversial project. The Government also confirmed it would proceed with plans to pump recycled sewage and trade waste to Brisbane’s Wivenhoe Dam when southeast Queensland storage levels fell to 40per cent. Former sustainability minister Andrew McNamara blamed the Traveston dam for his defeat in the seat of Hervey Bay, which is downstream of the $2 billion project. “We have resolved the question of whether the dam is a vote-changing issue - it certainly is,” Mr McNamara said. “It was a very big factor in how people voted.”

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Updated on Monday, March 23, 2009 at 08:51AM by stevem

Updated on Monday, March 23, 2009 at 09:38AM by stevem

Updated on Monday, March 23, 2009 at 03:29PM by stevem

Updated on Monday, March 23, 2009 at 04:53PM by stevem

Updated on Monday, March 23, 2009 at 05:00PM by stevem

Glenda Pickersgill, president of the Save the Mary River Coordinating Group, likes to take the positives from every situation - even if the Labor Government, who plans to dam the Mary River at Traveston Crossing, has been re-elected to lead Queensland. “It’s a disappointment to us Labor were re-elected, but across the state there’s been a very strong message sent, especially in areas affected if the dam is built. Undoubtedly, there is a lot of anti-Labor sentiment. “The result in this election will really force Anna Bligh to reassess her position on the dam and listen to people’s concerns.”

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Updated on Saturday, March 21, 2009 at 12:42PM by stevem

ANNA Bligh would be forced to ditch the $2 billion Traveston dam and agree to demands from independent MPs if Labor fails to win enough seats to rule in its own right in today’s Queensland election and she has to form a minority government. In similar circumstances, Lawrence Springborg would have to renege on his promise that the Liberal National Party would not operate as a minority government if he became premier.

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Updated on Friday, March 20, 2009 at 08:56AM by stevem

Updated on Friday, March 20, 2009 at 09:30AM by stevem

A very enlightening contrast as to how the editors of Brisbane’s Courier Mail and the Age in Melbourne, view the QLD election…..and Queenslanders in general. Even the Brisbane Times gets in on the act. I wonder what those voters in “Redneck Territory” between Boonah and Beaudesert, think?

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