Queensland Times (Ipswich Qld), 13 May 1947:
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, 13 March 1950:
Warwick Daily News (Qld), 11 January 1952:
Images from Trove, retrieved 28 September 2019
26
September
1969:
CANBERRA,
Thurs. — A $400 million scheme to divert the surplus waters of the
Clarence River into the Darling was submitted to the Commonwealth
to-day.
Cost
of the scheme, to be met primarily by the Commonwealth, would be
spread over 30 years.
A
deputation of eight members of the Barwon-Darling Water Association
submitted the plan to the Minister for National Development, Mr.
David Fairbairn.
Almost
on par with the great Snowy Mountain hydro-electric scheme, it
envisages:
A
multi-million increase in wool production.
A
vast outback development in decentralisation.
Attraction
of many thousands of farmers to the west.
Substantial
increase in storage capacity of the Darling.
Additional
houses, schools and industry “out west.”
Overall
revitalisation of farming and grazing development.
27
September 1969:
Local
Needs Before Diversion Of Water
The
diversion of surplus waters of the Clarence River to the west should
only be considered after a thorough investigation of the potential
for development and the water requirements of our own valley have
been ascertained.”
The
Mayor of Grafton and chairman of the Clarence River (Flood
Mitigation) County Council, Ald. N. G. Weiley, made this comment last
night.
Clarence Environment Centre, June 2007:
Let the rivers run to the sea
Clarence Environment Centre, June 2007:
Let the rivers run to the sea
The notion of diverting water from the Clarence River catchment to other parts of Australia surfaces every few years. It usually gets dismissed as the hare-brained scheme of some mad old engineer or outback dinosaur mayor.
This time it feels different. A combination of factors – badly-planned urban growth in southeast Queensland, the upcoming Federal election and the drought– have led to the Clarence coming under the cold and acquisitive eye of the Federal government and its engineers.
Minister for Environment and Water Resources Malcolm Turnbull commissioned the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation to do a ‘short term desk-top review on the identification and definition of issues associated with improving urban water supply security in South East Queensland and North East New South Wales by accessing water from the Northern Rivers of NSW.’
Bumper sticker from the successfu 2007 'Not A Drop' campaign against damming and diverting Clarence River catchment water:
The Northern Star, 14 February 2013:
"HOW dare they even mention the words dam or diversion."
That was the reaction of Page MP Janelle Saffin on Thursday to the news the Coalition was considering building dams and a weir on the Clarence and Mann rivers.
Water from the dams and the weir would be piped to the Logan River in Queensland.
A leaked draft Coalition policy discussion paper obtained by News Limited contained proposals to build up to 100 dams across Australia.
The idea to divert water from the Clarence has been kicked around for decades but has always met with fierce opposition.
Ms Saffin said she was "disturbed but not surprised" by the report.
"The federal Liberal and National parties still have their eyes on the Clarence," Ms Saffin told APN Newsdesk.
"They talk a lot about diverting rivers, about damming without any consultation whatsoever with local communities, local councils.
"It's fanciful to think you can talk about damming or diverting the Clarence. You can't."
Ms Saffin predicted the issue of damming or diverting water from the Clarence Valley would become an election issue, just as it was in 2007 when Malcolm Turnbull was water minister.
She referred to The Daily Examiner's successful Not A Drop campaign and said the community sentiment remained six years on.
"It still exists and in fact it would be stronger. With the issues swirling around with CSG and water there's even more of a strong feeling in the community about 'don't touch our water'," she said.
"To even hear a hint the Federal Coalition ... would go near the Clarence is enough to scare people."
Ms Saffin did concede each dam proposal should be treated on its merits, but said it was not an option for the Clarence.
As if sensing the political damage the leaking of the report might do to his chances of wresting Page from Ms Saffin, Nationals candidate Kevin Hogan issued a statement "categorically ruling out" the damming of the Clarence or Mann rivers.......
The Daily Examiner via Press Reader, 19 May 2018:
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