Should Beattie pull the plug on dam?
Your say - Sunshine Coast Daily

Senate report unlikely to stop our mega dam

16 August 2007
By Carolyn Tucker

A decidedly weak Senate report is unlikely to do much to stop the controversial Traveston Dam from going ahead.

The report tabled in Parliament this morning has criticised the State Government’s handling of the project.

But it’s criticism is mild and unlikely to have much impact on either state or federal government deliberations.

Federal MP Warren Truss said the main committee report was ‘disappointingly weak’.

Senators were divided along party lines with six of the 10 committee members, including Liberals, Nationals, Democrats and Green representatives writing dissenting reports calling for the project to be stopped.

But that was not one of the report’s recommentation.

“There was substantial evidence that gives rise to concerns about the project but the Labor senators were not willing to take that extra step, even though it is the only logical conclusion.

“It would seem to indicate that this project would be supported by the Federal Labor Party,” Mr Truss said.

The committee, chaired by Liberal senator Bill Heffernan, recommended Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull review an audit of the Paradise Dam approval conditions to mitigate effects on species threatened by the Traveston Crossing Dam.

Senator Heffernan said the inquiry had raised serious doubts about the wisdom of building the dam.

“Strong concerns were expressed that the alluvial floor of the dam would result in high levels of seepage,” he told parliament.

“Other potential problems were raised with high evaporation levels, adequacy of the catchment and the existing fault lines under the dam.

“The evidence that I’ve received from engineers says - in their words - this dam will leak like a sieve.”

Kevin Ingersole from the Save the Mary River action group said he was pleased that the facts had finally been laid bare.

“In a nutshell, I think it is fantastic,” Mr Ingersole said.

“It’s all out there in the open for everybody to see.”

The Rural and Regional Affairs Committee committee said it was particularly concerned at the volume of evidence it had received concerning the government’s lack of engagement with the community.

“The committee notes that members of the affected communities felt poorly prepared for the announcement,” the report said.

“This appears to be symptomatic of a politically expedient decision made in a tense political environment and in the face of burgeoning population growth and a reducing water supply.

“The committee received evidence suggesting that members of affected communities may have been able to reconcile themselves to this decision if the proposals had been supported from the outset by detailed scientific analysis.

The Queensland Government’s belated attempts to address this deficit appear to have done little to gain community support.”

“The inability of the affected communities to access technical information such as drilling and hydrological studies further compounded an already tense situation,” the report said.

However, the committee acknowledged that the State Government had implemented many strategies intended to resolve these issues.

The Senate committee said it had received a significant body of evidence expressing concern about the environmental impacts of the dams, particularly in relation to a number of threatened species.

“The Commonwealth Government does have a role to play in the assessment and approval processes of ‘controlled actions’ under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999,” the report said.

“The proposed Traveston Crossing and Wyaralong Dams have been determined as ‘controlled actions’, and as such will be subject to the approval of the Commonwealth Minister for Environment and Water Resources.

“The committee notes with concern the evidence received relating to the Paradise Dam and statements indicating that conditions placed on the approval of this initiative by the Commonwealth Minister have not been met by the Queensland Government.

“The committee is particularly concerned that mitigation strategies for endangered species do not appear to have been effectively implemented.

“The committee acknowledges that an audit of the approval conditions for Paradise Dam is being undertaken. While it is unfortunate that the results of this audit will not become available before this inquiry concludes, the committee remains concerned about this issue and will seek a briefing on the results of this audit when completed.”

The committee made the following recommendations:

Recommendation 1

That the Commonwealth Minister for Environment and Water Resources, when exercising authority under the EPBC Act, considers the evidence received on the potential environmental impact of the Traveston Dam on the Mary River and the species of the river. The committee also recommends that the Minister reviews the results of the audit on the Paradise Dam approval conditions to mitigate any potential effect on threatened species.

Recommendation 2

The committee recommends that the Queensland Government continues to:

• instigate strategies that will inform, engage and consult with members of the affected communities;

• ensure that businesses affected by the proposed dams are adequately compensated and offered appropriate assistance; and

• where possible, facilitate the timely release of copies of reports and information to members of the community to achieve a transparent and open process.

 
Traveston would ‘leak like a sieve’
August 16, 2007

Engineers have told a bipartisan Senate committee that Queensland’s proposed Traveston Crossing Dam would “leak like a sieve”.

The committee today urged Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull to consider evidence on the potential environmental impact of the controversial dam.

The committee made just two recommendations and stopped short of calling for the dam to be stopped.

The Beattie government says the dam is needed to supply water for South-East Queensland’s growing population, but the plans require federal environmental approval.

The committee, chaired by Liberal senator Bill Heffernan, recommended Mr Turnbull review an audit of the Paradise Dam approval conditions to mitigate effects on species threatened by the Traveston Crossing Dam.

Senator Heffernan said the inquiry had raised serious doubts about the wisdom of building the dam.

“Strong concerns were expressed that the alluvial floor of the dam would result in high levels of seepage,” he told parliament.

“Other potential problems were raised with high evaporation levels, adequacy of the catchment and the existing fault lines under the dam.

“The evidence that I’ve received from engineers says - in their words - this dam will leak like a sieve.”

Senator Heffernan said the dam proposal had caused a great deal of angst and uncertainty among businesses and community.

Labor senator Claire Moore said she understood community concerns about the dam.

“It would not matter wherever there is a proposal to put major infrastructure into a community,” she told parliament.

“There is no question there will be impact. It is understandable that people will be upset.”

Many people who gave evidence to the inquiry had wrongly assumed the committee had the power to direct government decisions on the dam, she said.

The report of the Senate’s rural and regional affairs committee included additional comments by Queensland coalition senators who urged the Beattie government to consider alternative water supply options.

Queensland Liberal senator Ian Macdonald branded the dam a “waste of money” that would have a “dangerous, if not fatal, impact on the very unique fauna in the Mary Valley”.

“The dam is a waste of money. It was a political response to a serious problem, a problem that’s been building for the last 10 years,” he said.

A furious Labor senator John Hogg said the two recommendations in the report did not reflect the comments made by National and Liberal senators.

Australian Greens senator Rachel Siewert said the recommendations did not go far enough.

“Based on the … environmental, social and economic evidence presented to the committee, it is quite clear that this dam is a white elephant, it should not go ahead, and that it is a giant waste of money,” she said.

The dam would leak and would lose enormous quantities of water through evaporation, Senator Siewert warned.

‘Weak’ report on dam a cruel joke, says Bligh

16 August 2007
By Carolyn Tucker

The majority of senators on the committee which investigated the Traveston dam have called for the project to be scrapped.

But the committee as a whole stopped short of recommending the dam should not proceed, in what Federal Member for Wide Bay, Warren Truss has described as a ‘disappointingly weak’ report.

The Deputy Premier likened the Traveston dam inquiry report to the Y2K bug - ‘lots of hype but nothing happened’.

However, its findings were welcomed by anti-dam campaigners in the Mary Valley who said the facts about this flawed project had finally been laid bare.

The Committee’s report was tabled in Parliament this morning, with six of the 10 members also submitting dissenting reports.

Senators were divided along party lines, with the Labor MPs refusing to publicly criticise the State Government’s decision to press ahead with the dam..

Instead, the report recommends that the Federal Environment Minister considers the evidence put before the committee when assessing whether the dam complies with Commonwealth law.

It also recommends that the State Government makes every effort to keep Mary Valley residents informed and ensures local businesses are adequately compensated.

Warren Truss said the report does not go far enough and had shied away from the obvious conclusion that the dam should be ditched.

“The weak recommendations in the report are nowhere near strong enough to keep Premier Beattie and his gang in line,” Mr Truss said.

“In spite of all the evidence given to the Senate Committee, the Labor Senators refused to call for a pause or axing of the dam.

However Kevin Ingersole from the Save the Mary River action group said he was pleased that the truth about this project had at last been told. “In a nutshell, I think it is fantastic,” he said.

“It’s all out there in the open for everybody to see.”

Mr Ingersole said residents appreciated the opportunity to have a say and although the committee had no power to block the dam, he still believed the inquiry had been a valuable and timely exercise.

“It has heightened awareness of what has been and still is an appalling example of crisis management and process,” he said.

But Deputy Premier Anna Bligh claimed the report had vindicated the state government’s position.

Ms Bligh labelled the inquiry a cruel stunt which had delivered nothing but false hope and said the recommendations were a joke.

“There are only two recommendations from this inquiry after six months of deliberations, almost 250 submissions, four days of public hearings,” she said.

“There is nothing in this report that concludes that the dam should not go ahead, further there is nothing in this report that provides any other solution.

“From day one the senate inquiry was a political stunt that frankly was a very cruel stunt by the likes of Barnaby Joyce and Ron Boswell on the people of the Mary Valley.”

The committee’s report acknowledged that there had been considerable confusion surrounding the project and residents felt they had been poorly treated and deliberately kept in the dark.

“This appears to be symptomatic of a politically expedient decision made in a tense political environment and in the face of burgeoning population growth and a reducing water supply,” the report states.

“The poor level of community engagement and consultation appears to have been exacerbated by the fact that information, when sent out, was at times incorrect or misleading, and led to much confusion, uncertainty and stress within the community.”

It goes on to say the state government had taken action to rectify the problem through a range of initiaves and programs.

The report said the committee had also received considerable evidence suggesting the dam could cause serious environmental damage and threaten endangered species.

Lack of consultation criticised

The Rural and Regional Affairs Committee committee said it was particularly concerned at the volume of evidence it had received concerning the government’s lack of engagement with the community.

“The committee notes that members of the affected communities felt poorly prepared for the announcement,” the report said.

“This appears to be symptomatic of a politically expedient decision made in a tense political environment and in the face of burgeoning population growth and a reducing water supply.

“The committee received evidence suggesting that members of affected communities may have been able to reconcile themselves to this decision if the proposals had been supported from the outset by detailed scientific analysis.

The Queensland Government’s belated attempts to address this deficit appear to have done little to gain community support.”

“The inability of the affected communities to access technical information such as drilling and hydrological studies further compounded an already tense situation,” the report said.

However, the committee acknowledged that the State Government had implemented many strategies intended to resolve these issues.

The Senate committee said it had received a significant body of evidence expressing concern about the environmental impacts of the dams, particularly in relation to a number of threatened species.

“The Commonwealth Government does have a role to play in the assessment and approval processes of ‘controlled actions’ under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999,” the report said.

“The proposed Traveston Crossing and Wyaralong Dams have been determined as ‘controlled actions’, and as such will be subject to the approval of the Commonwealth Minister for Environment and Water Resources.

“The committee notes with concern the evidence received relating to the Paradise Dam and statements indicating that conditions placed on the approval of this initiative by the Commonwealth Minister have not been met by the Queensland Government.

“The committee is particularly concerned that mitigation strategies for endangered species do not appear to have been effectively implemented.

“The committee acknowledges that an audit of the approval conditions for Paradise Dam is being undertaken. While it is unfortunate that the results of this audit will not become available before this inquiry concludes, the committee remains concerned about this issue and will seek a briefing on the results of this audit when completed.”

Traveston Dam report shows research lacking: Joyce

16 AUG 2007

Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce says evidence given to a Senate inquiry on the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam in south-east Queensland, by the State Government, shows its lack of planning.

The Senate committee report has recommended the Federal Environment Minister look carefully at the impact of the dam and calls on the Queensland Government to properly compensate businesses and keep communities up to date on the building process.

Senator Joyce says the State Government’s 35-page desktop study highlighted a lack of proper research.

“The question of ‘did you do an engineering report prior to making a decision?’ No,” he said.

“And the hydrology study prior to making the decision? No.

“What was your consultation process like? Non-existent prior to making the decision when you make arbitrary off-the-cuff decisions based on who votes for who in a certain area.

“That is not a good premise for a place that holds water.”

Deputy Queensland Premier Anna Bligh says nowhere does the report conclude the Traveston Dam should not go ahead.

Ms Bligh says the document shows the inquiry was always a political stunt and a cruel hoax on the people of the Mary Valley.

“I would have to say this is the biggest non-event since the Y2K Bug,” she said.

“Lots of hype and then nothing happens. There are only two recommendations from this inquiry after six months of deliberations.”

Dam has ‘snowball’s chance in hell’
August 16, 2007

The Queensland government has a “snowball’s chance in hell” of getting the Traveston Crossing Dam built, one of the project’s main opponent says.

A bipartisan Senate committee today released its report into the controversial dam, near Gympie north of Brisbane, urging the Beattie government to consider other water supply options.

It warned the dam could cause the possible extinction of unique fauna and flora, negatively impact on the Great Sandy Strait wetlands and World Heritage listed Fraser Island, and suffer problems such as seepage.

The Beattie Labor government says the dam is needed to supply water for south-east Queensland’s growing population.

But the plans require federal environmental approval, after the dam was declared a “controlled action” in November last year.

The committee made just two recommendations but fell short of calling for the project to be stopped.

Kevin Ingersole, the chairman of the Save The Mary River Coordinating Group, was confident the dam would be scrapped.

“Based on our understanding of the environmental impacts and based on what we have seen … we don’t (sic) think they’ve got a snowball’s chance in hell of getting it approved,” Mr Ingersole said.

“By our reckoning and our research and our modelling, the dam is a dog.”

He supported the committee’s recommendations, which included urging Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull to broaden a study on the potential environmental impact of the proposed $1.7 billion dam.

But Mr Ingersole said the Queensland government should also be forced to publish a comprehensive evaluation of viable alternatives.

Mick Vernados, the mayor of Cooloola shire which takes in Mary Valley, said the government could not ignore the report.

“It’s a report that should make the premier of Queensland and his deputy re-think the Traveston Dam proposal and let common sense prevail, withdraw the proposal from any further action … and look at the other alternatives and options that are available to them,” Mr Vernados said.

Stage one of the project would affect 332 properties, including 76 houses. Stage two would affect a further 265 properties, including 128 houses.

Mr Vernados said the 2,000 residents of the Mary Valley had suffered “complete devastation” since the government announced it would build the dam.

“Even those who say ‘We won’t go’, the doubt and the worry in them is causing great emotional stress throughout the community,” he said.

The Nationals’ state member for Gympie Dave Gibson accused the government of being “arrogant” for refusing to listen to engineering concerns raised in the report.

AAP