A Travesty at Traveston               ( Part  4  The Finale....we hope!) 12-11-09: Barring any back flips from Anna Bligh (Qld Premier) or Peter Garrett, Federal Minister for the Environment, then the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam will be dispatched in to oblivion for ever. At appx 13.20 hrs on Wednesday 11-11-09 the Hon Peter Garrett made the following announcement at a press conference in Brisbane.        "After carefully considering all of the information put before me and advice from my department, it is very clear to me that the Traveston Crossing Dam project can not go ahead without unacceptable impacts on matters of national environmental significant. I have based my proposed decision on the science presented to me, and the science shows that this project would have serious and irreversible effects on nationally listed species such as the Australian lungfish, the Mary River turtle and the Mary River cod. The area that would be flooded by this proposal is critical habitat for populations of these species. The evidence before me showed that flooding this habitat would have serious consequences for those species, including on their ability to breed and maintain population numbers. My department advised that the environmental impacts of this project would be so serious they would contribute to the further decline of these threatened species. As Environment Minister, my responsibility is to ensure that nationally listed species are protected, and I believe no conditions or mitigation measures that would adequately guarantee their protection could be imposed on this project. Several of the measures put forward in the proposal lacked scientific evidence as to their effectiveness. The assessment of this proposal has highlighted the serious plight of these species, and I believe that it is critical that all levels of government work together to tackle the threats to these species and secure their future. In making this proposed decision, I have also considered the social and economic impacts of this project. An independent expert review conducted by the Centre for International Economics creates serious doubt about the economic benefits of the dam. The likely economic and social benefits of this proposal do not outweigh the serious environmental impacts on our nationally protected species." With these words Mr Garrett confirmed that his decision was based on science, and not on party politics as was widely anticipated. This decision is also a great win for people power and a sign that democracy is still alive and kicking. To the Mary Valley community, the "Save The Mary Association", and all those who helped and supported the cause, we say "THANK YOU". To the Hon Peter Garrett, we say "THANK YOU" and to all the scientists who worked tirelessly to prepare the needed supportive documents we say "THANK YOU" and most of all we should accept that the biggest winner from this experience was COMMON SENSE! It is without a doubt that Queensland will need to secure water for its ever increasing population, and find it soon. This State has recently gone through a water restriction cycle and it wasn't a nice experience. We do not wish to revisit such an event in the near future, and hence the government must work hard and expediently to secure a sustainable source of water. Dams are a perfect solution but they do provide some large hurdles as has been demonstrated by the Mary River issue which has dragged on over a period of 3 1/2 years. Other options must be taken into account. Raising the walls of existing dams, desalination plants, recycling water, storage facilities for every residence and the most important and probably the cheapest solution in the longer term, the proposed "Bradfield Scheme" to pump water from the North of Queensland to the States of NSW, Victoria, South Australia and the southern part of Queensland. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to: HOME            Back to: Point of View              Back to: Travesty (3)