Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—The proposal to construct a dam at Traveston Crossing on the Mary River in South-East Queensland is currently being assessed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. The method of assessment is an environmental impact statement, an EIS, in accordance with the requirements of a bilateral agreement under the EPBC Act with the Queensland government. The terms of reference of the EIS include a requirement that the EIS discuss reasonable and practicable alternatives to the proposed dam, including a comparative description of the impacts of each alternative. The EIS was made available for public comment and a large number of submissions were received, many of which raised issues regarding potential alternatives to the Traveston Crossing dam. The proponent’s response to those comments is contained in the supplementary report, which is now publicly available.

Both the public comments and the proponent’s response will be considered by the Queensland Coordinator General when finalising the assessment report. The report must be presented to the minister for his consideration. It goes without saying that the minister will make his decision on the proposed dam in strict accordance with the EPBC Act. In particular, he will consider all relevant matters, including the alternatives to the dam that were canvassed in the EIS, public comments on those alternatives and the proponent’s response to those comments.