Senator Kerry Nettle met thirty residents of Tyalgum and the surrounding area at Rocky Creek Crossing on the Oxley River on Wed July 4th to listen to their concerns over Malcolm Turnbull’s proposal to dam the tributaries of the Tweed River and pipe the water to Queensland.
The concerns expressed by the residents are three fold. It will destroy the area, it will not produce any extra water, and it penalises an ecologically sustainable community to send water to an unsustainable one. President of the Save the Caldera Rivers campaign, Peter Bennett, puts the views clearly in the interview broadcast on The Generator on Monday July 9th.
Kerry Nettle outlined the Greens position that demand management can solve the nation’s water problems at a local level through a combination of rain water harvesting, water recycling, efficiency and reduced waste. She pointed out that the SE Queensland mayors have already commissioned a report that proves that approach would not only meet current population requirements, but also provide for the projected growth over the next decade.
She also said that Greens Senator, Rachel Siewert, is deputy chair of the Tracveston Creek Crossing Senate Committee that has been given Turnbull’s proposal. Siewert has requested that the terms of reference for the Senate Committee be formally expanded to deal with the proposal which is well outside the scope of the options originally considered by the Committee as part of its investigations into a dam on the Mary River north of the Sunshine Coast.