Steve Milson
17 MAY 2006

In QLD “The Smart State” we read daily of the benefits of the influx of the interstate migration flooding over the border in numbers in search of the “good life”. We are told that this migration brings economic prosperity, attracts investment and is “good for Qld business and its economy”. The Queensland “good life” is a highly bankable and marketable commodity.

What we are not so readily told is the detrimental effects this has on our basic infrastructure, roads, schools, hospitals, and all basic government services. The tax on our valuable resources and environment with which we entrust our hard earned taxpayer dollars for our elected representatives to manage.

Current Water supplies are being taxed to limit due to drought and also through neglect and lack of planning, foresight and funding by various governments, both State and Federal. It has been obvious to many that something needs to be done before public infrastructure and services are swamped under the torrent flooding over the border. Money has to be invested and plans made, researched and implemented. Good governance requires vision, planning, consultation, transparency and accountability to all constituents. Not just to a selected few.

To the greater majority, damming the Mary means green lawns, leisurely showers, clean cars and backyard swimming pools. Continuance of a lifestyle to which they have become accustomed and comfortable with. Life’s great in the Sunshine State. A guaranteed vote winner down south in Brisbane Town. A good courageous decision Mr. Beattie! (as long as it isn’t in my backyard). Developers will be surveying even more areas for housing estates. Yes water is a very valuable asset.

This decision, damming the Mary and the way it has been implemented will have an impact on far many more lives throughout this state than we who choose to live in the Mary Valley. New roads, Highways, tunnels, power lines, housing developments and even more dams will mean more resumptions and social dislocation.

No one’s backyard is safe. This population boom currently has no limits, fewer checks and balances. Anyone can be conscripted to make the sacrifice for “the greater good”.

My initial shock on hearing the announcement of the construction of the Mary River Dam by the QLD Government paled as letters fluttered down with the breeze to my shocked and traumatized neighbours in the Valley. Letters demanding the sacrifice of their homes, farms, business’s, aspirations and lifestyles.

I guess we should count ourselves lucky that our property has not been targeted for liquidation following that initial bombshell. We should rejoice that our assets and equity has increased with the possibility that we in future may be living within walking distance of “prime waterfront land”?

Not so. Tears now flood the valley from a good community king hit by a cruel blow. Too many issues to ponder. So much confusion and uncertainty. Too many questions that remains unanswered. Agendas lurking beneath muddied waters.

The official map contains the ominous disclaimer “the ponded area and buffer zone shown on the map are indicative only. The final level of development of the dam and the area required for its operation are subject to further investigation.” (Based on the figure given of 79.5 metres for the Maximum Ponded Area of the Dam.)

What guarantee will the Qld government give to us “ fringe dwellers” if studies (supposedly now being undertaken), require a revision upwards of the estimated 79.5 metre level in order to make the Dam more viable?

 .Do we put our lives on hold awaiting a possible resumption notice when all the studies, data and figures have been finally evaluated and released?

· What is the timeframe? Things that initially move with mind-numbing speed can bog down somewhere between beauracracy and implementation. Days can evaporate into months and years. For how long do those that may be resumed, if a reevaluation of the Dams levels and volumes required are greater than first anticipated, put their lives on hold?

· How we arrive at a figure for compensation for the homes and business’s currently being resumed. How do you compensate for dreams and aspirations now vaporizing into dense fog? At present the market value of my “currently unaffected property ” is zilch. At the stroke of a pen it has been rendered un-saleable until all facts and figures are tabulated and final decisions made public. Selling out and moving elsewhere is no longer an option for me as the only possibly interested buyer currently, is the QLD Government. Published figures on the costings for this Dam worry me to. I have a realistic $ value of what my property was worth (pre dam) on an open market. I guess anyone who holds a mortgage or borrows money that is based on the valuation of their asset would have a Dollar value of their property. Resumptions alone based on immediate pre-dam values would be astronomical. By my calculations, far more costly than those revealed to the public.

To pay the bill for the Dam our Government is selling off a publicly owned asset that is essential service to all Queenslanders living in the South East. Energex.

The One Billion dollars raised will be spent on building infrastructure to quench the thirsts of our rapidly growing population. Which is good for some business in the Smart State, but it appears that the public benefits, in dollar terms, no longer flow readily enough into Treasury coffers, to pay the bills.

When our hospital system requires an overhaul is the Government planning to sell off our water to pay the bills?
Sell off the hospitals to fix the roads?
Sell the roads to fix our schools…?
The mind boggles. Too deep. Way over my head. But don’t worry, that’s business, we elect governments to worry about things like that.
For the “Greater Good” possibly my property and those properties already resumed from my neighbors in the Mary Valley is today’s price.

For those interested, try typing “privatising water” into Google and perhaps some of these questions may be answered.

Can someone assure me that this Valley is not already being earmarked, for sale to some faceless corporate entity, to pay the bills?

Cynical?

Maybe.