Senator TROOD (Queensland) (10.19 p.m.)—Like my colleague from Queensland Senator Bartlett, I too want to mention the matter of dams this evening and draw the attention of the Senate to the thoroughly ill-conceived proposal of the Queensland Beattie government to build a dam on the Mary River just outside the southern Queensland town of Gympie, north of the Sunshine Coast. The proposal for the dam is not only another reflection of the abject failure of the Beattie government to plan for the development of public infrastructure in Queensland; it is a case study in how not to plan and undertake public works. The Queensland government contends that the dam is required to address the future water supply needs of Queensland’s south-east. But not only is there strong evidence that it will fail to meet this need; the dam’s construction will have disastrous environmental, social and economic consequences for the region and for the people who live there.

The dam is currently estimated to cost $1.7 billion of Queensland taxpayers’ money, yet a wide array of experts has already condemned the proposal. No-one, it seems, supports the dam but the Queensland government. First there are the elemental problems related to the dam’s site and construction. The Mary River is a low-flowing river, with periodic years of moderate flood flows and occasional spectacular floods. By every account it is an entirely inappropriate river for damming. The dam wall is proposed to be built on soft alluvial soil without a satisfactory solid rock base, necessitating complex and expensive engineering works that will include the need for a 30-metre deep foundation. When filled, the dam will have an average depth of only six to eight metres, so shallow as to lead to very high evaporation and making the dam prone to the build-up of algal blooms and other water contaminants. One expert predicts that the evaporation could be as high as the expected yield of the dam—150,000 megalitres a year.

Not only are there very profound problems with construction of the dam but it will have a disastrous impact on the environment. As a consequence of the dam’s construction, the downstream flow of the Mary River will be substantially reduced. As Senator Bartlett has noted, the quality of the water will be seriously affected. What is already a low-flowing river will suffer a further devastating impact with predictable consequences. Internationally protected RAMSAR wetlands will be affected as well as World Heritage areas, Commonwealth marine and heritage areas and, perhaps most significantly, the habitat of migratory and endangered species. The Queensland government’s own plans acknowledge that the dam will impact on the habitat of 17 threatened species, including two endangered, seven vulnerable and eight rare species. Most critically, the habitat of three endangered aquatic species, the Mary River cod, the Australian lungfish and the Mary River turtle, will be severely threatened.

The proposal will also have a disastrous impact on the economy and economic livelihood of many people in the Mary River Valley. The region is well known as being among Queensland’s most productive areas in dairying, as an agricultural region and as a region with an extensive range of productive small businesses. If built, the dam will also have a massive impact on existing local infrastructure. Parts of towns will have to be relocated and nine kilometres of the Bruce Highway will need to be rerouted, as well as up to 75 kilometres of local and arterial roads. A section of the electricity grid will need to be rebuilt, tourism facilities will need to be relocated and, most distressing for many local residents, provision will have to be made for the resiting of graves as a result of the flooding of a 100-year-old cemetery.

Then there are the community costs of the proposal. These are widespread and cause deep seated distress and anxiety to the residents. At one time, it was anticipated that 900 properties would be affected by the dam’s construction. The costs would be borne by every community in the Mary River Valley region. Although the dam has yet to proceed through the many stages required for approval, land acquisitions have already begun—in some cases, as it has turned out, unnecessarily, since the Queensland government has now changed its plans and has decided that the properties affected are no longer needed. In the course of resumption, there have been reports of intimidation and strong arm tactics by Queensland government officials.

Interjection

Senator Scullion—Shame, shame, shame.

Continue

Senator TROOD—Thank you, Senator Scullion. I agree completely with that intervention. I can personally testify to the stress and anxiety that the proposal has caused to this small community. At a public meeting I attended in the area last Monday, several residents were in tears as they explained the impact of the proposal on their families, their lives and their businesses. The residents of the Mary River Valley are fully aware of the serious challenges that south-east Queensland faces over its future water requirements. They acknowledge that communities need to make sacrifices for the wider common good. But they are mystified as to why their community is being asked to bear the burden of this particular proposal. When the proposed site of the dam is so manifestly inappropriate and when there are better alternative not far away which would cost less and which would have lower social, economic and environmental impacts, they are rightly wondering whether their community has been made a victim of the long-term serial failure on the part of the Beattie government to address the state’s water needs.

The simple fact is that the Beattie government has forfeited any confidence that the residents might have had in the approval process as a result of the way it has proceeded with the proposal. It was presented in haste without inadequate consultation, the plans dishonestly conveyed the government’s intentions, comprehensive information has been consistently withheld and the process has lacked transparency. All in all, it has generated immense pain and anxiety within the local community. And the community has not been assisted by the arrogant declaration by the Premier, Mr Beattie, that ‘this dam will be built whether it is feasible or not’.

The proposal to build the Traveston has now been referred the federal Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Senator Campbell, under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. The minister is required to make a declaration that the proposal requires approval under the Commonwealth legislation. There seems little doubt that the Commonwealth has an important role in this matter and the minister should make this declaration. The Queensland state government will then be required to proceed with the assessment. This should be done through a transparent process by way of a public inquiry, as provided for in the relevant legislation. Failure to take this course will underscore to all those connected with this proposal that the Queensland government does not have the confidence that the Traveston proposal will stand up to close public scrutiny. On the other hand, undertaking the public inquiry will perhaps go some way to arresting some of the concerns and anxieties of the Mary River community. But in the end the only correct course is for the Queensland government to abandon the proposal as thoroughly ill-conceived and to spare the community any further pain in relation to it.

In closing, I want to acknowledge the commitment and determination of the residents of the Mary River Valley in their efforts to draw the impact of the dam proposal to the attention of wider community and to the attention of families, businesses and other interest around the valley. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the commitment 1,464 people such as Mr Kevin Ingersole, Mr David Ross and the local members of parliament, state and federal, including my colleagues in the other place Warren Truss and Alex Somlyay and especially the new member for Gympie in the state parliament, Mr David Gibson. They have acted in true community spirit on this very difficult issue in trying to alert the community to what is potentially a disaster and something that needs to be terminated forthwith.