Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on a very important issue in my electorate: the Howard government’s recent proposal to take water from northern New South Wales to Queensland. One of the proposals that has been put forward by the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources involves building a dam in the village of Tyalgum. Our precious water would then be sent over the border to the Gold Coast—an area that has been overdeveloped and inadequately planned for. I am totally opposed to the plans of the environment minister, the Prime Minister and the National Party to take precious water from our rivers for use by the overdeveloped Gold Coast. As the federal member for Richmond I make no apologies for standing up for locals and fighting to protect the best interests of the residents of the Richmond electorate.

My main concerns about this proposal include the devastating effect that the building of a dam would have on the village of Tyalgum and the surrounding areas and the sustainability and future of our river. Our river’s health and ecosystem are of the utmost importance. There are very serious environmental consequences associated with this proposal. Many local industries rely on our river—for example, tourism, farming and fishing. This proposal would have a significant impact on local jobs, and that is certainly an issue that many locals have raised with me. I am also very concerned about the future water needs of the Tweed region. It is of utmost importance that our water requirements are looked after. In a report in the Australian on 16 April 2007, the Prime Minister referred to this proposal to pump water from northern New South Wales. He said that it passes a ‘commonsense pub test’. I challenge the Prime Minister to go to any pub in the Northern Rivers and talk to the locals about this plan. I do not think he or the environment minister would be game to go to the Tyalgum pub and talk about this plan. I do not think they would get a very good hearing at all.

This plan is self-serving and ill conceived. It is another example of how this government—in particular, the National Party—has abandoned and forgotten regional and rural Australia. Last week, over 300 locals attended a public meeting in Tyalgum to voice their concerns about this proposed dam and how it would destroy their village and the surrounding areas. Our community have been very vocal in our opposition to this plan. Last week I launched a petition and, so far, hundreds of locals have signed it. Our community will stand united on this issue and fight to stop this dam. It is a major issue in the electorate, and people have so many concerns.

I call on the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources to rule out a dam in northern New South Wales and taking water from northern New South Wales to Queensland. I make no apologies for standing up for the people of Richmond on this matter; our water and our water needs are of utmost importance, as are preserving our rivers, our ecosystems and our rural villages. These are my main concerns, and I want answers from the environment minister. I want him to rule out this dam in northern New South Wales and to rule out taking water from our area to Queensland.

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