15 MAY 2007 

The Federal Government will carry out an environmental audit of Paradise Dam, west of Bundaberg in south-east Queensland, next month.

A Department of Environment and Water spokeswoman says the audit is designed to ensure the project has been implemented as the Commonwealth proposed.

Kevin Ingersole from the Save the Mary River Coordinating Group says the State Government has failed to comply with the conditions and he fears the same could happen with the proposed Traveston Crossing dam near Gympie.

“The Queensland Government received approval under the EPBC [Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation] Act to build Paradise Dam and there were conditions of consent that were attached to that approval and most of those conditions have not been met, so we think an audit is appropriate because it’s basically the same organisation and the same structure that’s proposing to build the dam at Traveston Crossing,” he said.