Liberals abandon water security for South East Queensland

Federal Liberals had abandoned water security for South East Queensland after saying the Traveston Crossing Dam should be scrapped but refusing to propose anything to replace the water it would supply to the region, Acting Premier Paul Lucas said today.

Mr Lucas said he was astonished Liberal Senator Ian Macdonald believed the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam should be scrapped given current combined dam storage was at 20% and South East Queensland was on level six water restrictions.

“Clearly Senator Macdonald believes water security in South East Queensland should be thrown out the window,” Mr Lucas said.

“I’m astonished Senator Macdonald questions whether there are any real benefits to the dam given that it would provide enough water for 500,000 people a year.

“Either Senator Macdonald doesn’t know or doesn’t care that thanks to recent rains the Mary River is currently flowing at a rate that would fill three Olympic size swimming pools a minute.

“And maybe Senator Macdonald doesn’t care that in the five years to September 2007, the dam would have filled four times, despite the current drought conditions - in contrast to significant falls in other dam storages.

“It’s not enough that Senator Macdonald has abandoned water security for South East Queensland. He’s abandoned common sense as well.

“It might be good enough for Federal Liberals to abandon water security for the region but the State Labor Government will not let South East Queensland run out of water.”

Mr Lucas said concerns about the impact of the proposed dam on the local environment were being taken into consideration

Mr Lucas said the EIS demonstrated the dam was viable and that the proposed $35 million freshwater species conservation centre and other mitigation measures would reduce the impact on local fauna.

“Lungfish aren’t limited to the Mary River,” Mr Lucas said.

“The Traveston Crossing Dam EIS shows they are regarded as ‘common/secure’ by the Australian Society for Fish Biology.

“Recent studies have shown that as well as the Mary River, they occur in the Burnett River, the North Pine River and the Brisbane River.

“What’s more, lungfish in the Brisbane River exist upstream, downstream and in Wivenhoe Dam.

“And the lungfish in the Burnett and North Pine rivers are up and downstream of their dams too.”

Mr Lucas said SunWater had advised the fish lift at the Paradise Dam on the Burnett River was in working order but was not operating at full capacity because of very low dam levels.

“We take environmental issues very seriously. That’s why we’re investing $35 million in the freshwater species conservation centre,” Mr Lucas said.

“I encourage anyone who has any concerns about any issues to do with the proposed dam to look at the Environmental Impact Statement and make a submission to the Coordinator-General by January 14.”

Media inquiries: Robert Hoge 0419 757 868