James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I understand I have five minutes and, Senator Hanson, I will try to stick to my five minutes. We need more dams. We need more dams in Queensland. We need the new Bradfield Scheme. Senator Watt talked just then about the need for dams. We have a state Labor government in Queensland that is not building dams. Paradise Dam is this country's greatest infrastructure fail. Labor built the dam, but they didn't build it properly. The last dam built in Queensland was 14 years ago. Labor, in a state of secrecy similar to what you see at the Kremlin, aren't telling the people of Wide Bay-Burnett why they have emptied the dam and why 105,000 megalitres of water have been flushed out to sea. Labor will not tell the community why they have emptied that dam. Labor in Queensland aren't building dams. The one dam they did build 14 years ago—remember, Labor have been in power for 25 of the last 30 years—they didn't build properly and they are now emptying it out to sea and not telling the local community why.

I'm here to support the building of dams in Queensland and to support the new Bradfield Scheme. I met with Sir Frank Moore and Sir Leo Hielscher. Thank you to Mike Evans, that doyen of the National Party, that warrior for all that is right. Sir Frank and Sir Leo they took me through their scheme a few months ago. They took me through the new Bradfield Scheme in terms of what they want to do, and I support it. I am on the record and I am happy to support the scheme that has been espoused by Sir Frank and Sir Leo and adopted by Deb Frecklington and the LNP in Queensland—the first party that can form government to support the new Bradfield Scheme. Deb Frecklington and her team have been very strong about why they support this and why they are going to put money into the scheme, because they understand that the future of Queensland depends on us having water.

At the moment, with two-thirds of our state in serious drought, it is time for the Bradfield Scheme. It is an idea whose time has come. It was first proposed by John Bradfield back in the 1930s. I will admit, Senator Hanson, that I don't support the original. I don't support the original Bradfield Scheme because I don't like taking water out of Queensland. If rain falls in Queensland, quite frankly, it should stay in Queensland. I don't like the idea of some inland lake, but I do like, and have always liked, the idea of building dams. The Bradfield Scheme at its heart is about constructing water storage—we call them dams—and then piping that water and ensuring that we can drought-proof Queensland. I don't see why people would oppose that. That's why the LNP, quite sensibly, under Deb Frecklington in Queensland will go to the next election supporting the new Bradfield Scheme.

That should be compared with what Labor are going to take to the next election. Labor will take to the next election a dodgy deal with the Greens because they want the Green party preferences. They want a dodgy deal with the Green party to make sure they hold their urban seats, whereas the LNP will make sure that we stand up for all of Queensland because we understand that Queenslanders know that our state needs to be drought-proofed. We will take a plan to the next election, which is in less than 12 months time, to make sure that our state can be drought-proofed and we can build dams, against a Labor Party who aren't building dams.