Source: The Courier-Mail
THE Senate's inquiry into the controversial Mary River dam got off to a shaky start today with protesters reacting angrily to a ruling to muzzle media coverage.
More than 100 locals had already crammed into the small conference centre at Gympie. Residents whose land has been targeted for compulsory acquisition and their supporters sported 'No Dam' and 'Save The Mary River' banners, but there was no organised rally as such.
Before proceedings got under way, Liberal Senator for Queensland Russell Trood warned that the inquiry had no power to order the dam be stopped. That power resided with the Federal and State Governments, he said.
"That's in the hands of the Queensland Government and in the hands of Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull,'' Senator Trood said.
"The important thing about the inquiry is just to get the facts on the table which have been obscured for many residents up until now. ''We'll certainly be getting a lot of evidence about the likely impact of the dam upon the community, the social, environmental, and economic impacts.''
Protesters became agitated when chairman Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan banned electronic media coverage - and the capacity of locals to share their grief with the community. Senator Heffernan said he didn't want the Senate inquiry to be ''a media event'' and didn't want "grandstanding''.
Former MP Kate Molloy received strong applause when she stood up and challenged Senator Heffernan's ruling. The conference room at Gympie had already filled by 9am, and it was expected to be standing room only this afternoon.
Fencing contractor Greg Wicks and his partner Hazel Schoen told the inquiry they had already lost 50 percent of their business since the dam was announced. They accused the State Government of failing to negotiate properly the issue of compensation.
Ms Schoen said the State Government was building the dam on top of porous land. Who builds a dam in the middle of an alluvial floodplain? No farmer would do it, but the government wants to.''
She said the State Government's plan already had ''ruined'' the couple's business. ''It's very difficult to plan anything at the moment.
The service industry in the valley has been crippled by the dam.'' Resident Gillian Boyer said residents were being ``pressured'' to sell their homes because of fear they would not be adequately compensated if they waited to accept an offer.
Before proceedings began, Pedder Michael, a volunteer for Lifeline Sunshine Coast and counsellor of affected residents, said the effect of the dam's announcement had been ``terrible'' on residents. ''You just think about it.
If your family had been farming for 100 years and someone says we're taking your farm, you're out negotiating a price, how would you feel? ''The effects on the community have been sad.
You're talking about a couple of thousand directly and up to 10,000 people indirectly affected by a dam that really defies common sense.''