Postkiwi

This last week four of my Uniting Church colleagues have been exploring the human impact of the Queensland Government’s decision to flood the Mary River for Brisbane’s water supply. The Mary River is inland from the Sunshine Coast, south of Gympie.

Last week David Pitman (Queensland Moderator) and Heather den Houting (Synod Social Justice Advocate) visited the Mary Valley with David Fanning, Presbytery minister and Iain Watt, local minister. They met with about 60 people in the Imbil Uniting Church Hall and the following day visited the Mary Dam Information Centre set up at Kandanga, and several properties that will be inundated or become unusable if the dam project proceeds.

Here’s what David had to say on his return.

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In all, about 850 homes and/or farming properties will be resumed to make way for the dam. However, that is only the beginning of the impact this project will have on the local community and beyond.

Let me briefly summarise the issues as I now understand them.

For some time now, the Government has had on its agenda the construction of a new dam on Amamoor Creek and the raising of the existing dam at Borumba to increase its capacity. The land required for these projects has already been acquired and their implementation would have minimal impact on the community. While some people are opposed to any further dam construction, most of the residents in the Valley have long since adjusted to the possibility of these projects and are willing to accept them.

However, while the possibility of a dam at Traveston on the Mary River has been investigated and rejected on two previous occasions, there has been no hint that the Government was considering this option yet again. Consequently, the announcement regarding the construction of a mega dam at Traveston, coming as it did without prior knowledge or consultation, caused shock and dismay in the community.

It is not really possible to appreciate the depth of pain and trauma this announcement has caused without personal contact with those most directly affected. The Premier, whose public statements have been particularly insensitive and uncaring, did fly over the region a few weeks ago, but has chosen not to visit the area or meet with local residents.

Telephone help-lines that have been set up are a joke! People are being asked to put their concerns in writing and are waiting for up to three weeks for a response. Financial compensation is being promised but the emotional pain and distress being experienced remains ignored and unaddressed.

Some of these families have been on the land in this area for more than 100 years. Others have moved there just recently, expecting to spend the last years of their lives in peaceful retirement in a lovely rural environment. Business people face financial ruin. Unemployment will increase greatly as farms and businesses are forced to close.

Even if it was decided right now not to proceed with the dam the adverse impact on the community has already been very significant.

Now all of this has happened while the current process of investigation into the suitability of the site is still in its early stages. Notwithstanding the commitment by the Government to undertake thorough geological research, along with environmental and community impact studies, the Premier has repeatedly declared that the dam must and will be built! I would like the Premier to explain the basis on which he can commit to this project before any such significant investigation has taken place, and in the absence of any prior consultation with those most directly and adversely affected. I find his attitude and the intention both mystifying and irresponsible.

Read the rest of David’s post at Journey Online.