Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Paradise Dam is a prime example of a failure of the Queensland Labor Party. Labor built it then broke it and now have committed only half the money required to repair it. The Queensland government expect the federal government to swoop in and fix up their mistakes. Paradise Dam is located on the Burnett River, about 20 kilometres north-west of Biggenden and 80 kilometres south-west of Bundaberg. It's a roller compacted concrete gravity dam that was built for irrigation in 2005. Paradise Dam originally stored 300,000 megalitres until in September Sunwater and the state government lowered the spillway due to safety concerns. The dam now is able to store 175 megalitres, 57 per cent of the original capacity.

In 2020 a report was released that found the roller compacted concrete was intrinsically incapable of achieving the required standard of safety. After two years of excuses and delays the Queensland government has committed $600 million to the project, a distraction from the integrity crisis going on at the moment. The total project cost is $1.2 billion. Queensland has called on the federal government to match the funding for the Paradise Dam. The project has been a Labor failure from day one, and now they expect the federal government to come and pay for their mistakes. Taxpayers should be mad. Coulson Lakes farmers are still waiting for the pipeline to their rich agricultural land from this dam.

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