Monday 18 February 2013

The '100 Dams' Proposal: So who do I believe - Abbott or Hogan?

 
Australian Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott remains determined to dam Australia. An aim he has expressed at various times over a period of years.
 
This policy has been one of the subjects in a speaker’s notes brief distributed to Coalition MPs in July 2012  and, now surfaces again as a conveniently leaked Coalition Dams and Water Management Task Group draft ‘consultation’ paper which has been two years in the making.
 
The leak as reported may be short on detail, however it is obvious that at least one wannabe water raider which has been eyeing off Clarence River Catchment fresh water has had some input concerning the recommendations found in this paper and the Clarence and Mann rivers are listed amongst the '100 dams'.
 
While APN Media Group reports:
 
 
That damming and diverting one or more of the NSW northern rivers is still on the Liberal and National Party agenda is beyond doubt, as in one form or another it surfaces at almost every state or federal inquiry into water security.
 
Yet the Nationals candidate for the seat of Page in the 2013 federal election, Kevin Hogan, tells us that none of the northern rivers are being considered by Abbott & Co for diversion to south east Queensland or the Murray Darling Basin.
 
However, rather curiously Hogan only rules out the creation of major dams – he makes no commitment to no new dams.
 
Which begs the question as to what Abbott and his Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Water Barnaby Joyce may have been privately promising those water hungry mining companies operating (or intending to operate) on the NSW North Coast when discussing infrastructure partnerships:
 
Some of them don't need anything because in such areas as the mining industry they require water to get coal mines up and they'll build them."

After two years of 'investigation' and no community consultation Clarence River Catchment freshwater systems are once more on the table for futher dam construction.

If such a dam was not being considered as Mr. Hogan asserts, why was it included in the list of potential dam sites at all?

1 comment:

sue said...

CSG needs water, so lots of little dams paid by the mining companies, with the PR advertising campaign of "drought proofing" appears most likely. The 'drought proofing' slogan has already appeared in the Abbott 'leak' (if you buy a slow feed drip as a leak)