Paradise Dam promises bleak Future for any Traveston approval

SUNDAY 8th NOVEMBER 2009    Paradise Dam promises bleak Future for any Traveston approval

Tomorrow, the Paradise Dam court case resumes in the Federal Court in Brisbane and as campaigners wait for a decision from Minister Garrett on the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam, the case serves as a reminder of the broken promises of Paradise Dam on the Burnett River, in South -East Queensland.

The court case calls into question whether the Queensland Government has kept the promises it made regarding protection of the Queensland Lungfish, said Glenda Pickersgill, president of the Save the Mary River Coordinating Group.

"The case is about the serious environmental impacts of dams. Paradise dam, like the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam, will push endangered and vulnerable species like the Lungfish further toward extinction - and dams are not the best way to secure Brisbanes water supply in the face of climate change, said Ms Pickersgill.

Queensland taxpayers need to know that there were also other promises of jobs, economic growth and water security made about Paradise Dam which have been broken by the Queensland Government. They have not been held accountable for this, said David Kreutz, secretary of the Save the Mary River Coordinating Group.

For example, a Ministerial Media release in May 2006 suggested
The $200 million Paradise Dam on the Burnett River has potential to increase net wealth in the region by up to $800 million a year and create more than 7000 new jobs.

Mr Kreutz said Neither the $800 million a year, nor the projected 7 000 new jobs materialised.

To the best of our knowledge Paradise has created only a handful of long term jobs associated with operating the dam and information centre. During construction the employment was less than half of the 1200 jobs predicted.

It appears the Queensland Government and its dam builders might be in the habit of making promises they cant keep.

This is not unusual it seems. In his book When the rivers run dry, Fred Pearce quotes Daniel Beard, ex-dam builder and former Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, US Government.
Those who promoted dam projects were not honest about costs and benefits. The truth is that dam proponents would say just about anything to get a dam project approved.

In this day and age we expect more from our Governments. The experience across the globe, and the experience of Paradise Dam, sounds a dire warning for the proposed dam on the Mary River. The fact that the same Government, and even many of the same people pushing the proposed Traveston Crossing dam built the Paradise dam is cause for great concern, said Ms Pickersgill.

Just like Paradise, the Queensland Government have promised that the proposed Traveston Crossing dam would have an ongoing stimulating effect to the local economy. That is despite the fact that the Coordinator General has just confirmed, that, unlike the water from Paradise, businesses and towns in the Mary River Catchment wont even get a look in on the water from the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam.

Contrary to Government claims, the dam would send employment in the Mary Valley backwards. The Queensland Coordinator General says 500-600 jobs would be created during construction but that only 30-40% of them would be filled by people from the surrounding regions. So that is at best 240 local jobs.

That means the dam would create less jobs than it destroys in regional agriculture in the region. said Ms Pickersgill, citing the Queensland Farmers Federation submission to the Senate Inquiry in 2007 which found that Traveston would cost the local agricultural sector over 1000 jobs - 267 direct jobs and up to three times that indirectly.

Add the impact that the reduced freshwater flow would have on jobs in the commercial and recreational fisheries in Hervey Bay and the Great Sandy Strait and the promises of the Queensland Government certainly appear ludicrous.

The Paradise Court case will hold the Queensland Government to account for broken promises on the lungfish protection. However its up to the general community to keep the Bligh Government to account for the manipulative and heartless way promises have been sprayed across the Mary River Catchment on Traveston.

"With a history of broken promises from Paradise Dam, why would this government be trusted with building Traveston and delivering on their long list of promises?" concluded Ms Pickersgill.

The Paradise Court case which resumes tomorrow was initiated by Wide Bay Burnett Conservation Council (WBBCC) with the support of a number of environmental groups including the Save the Mary River Coordinating Group, challenges Sunwater over ineffective fish passage for the Queensland lungfish at Paradise Dam.