The LNP has ruled out building a desalination plant on the Sunshine Coast and promised to conduct a review of Queensland’s water plans, if elected this month.
The Opposition stressed it would abandon the current government’s proposal for a desal facility in the region, but party leader David Crisafulli said a new dam could be built in the state’s south-east.
The plant was expected to be built somewhere in the northern Sunshine Coast to help cater for a rapidly growing population and to counter the impacts of climate change.
But an LNP spokesperson told Sunshine Coast News there was no place for it.
“Unlike Labor, which has said it will put a desalination plant on the Sunshine Coast, the LNP has ruled out desalination plants, which would send water bills skyrocketing,” they said.
The Member for Kawana Jarrod Bleijie also said a plant would hurt hip pockets.
“Labor’s desalination plan will drive up costs for families and farmers in the middle of a cost of living crisis,” he said.
The LNP federal Member for Fisher Andrew Wallace said desal plants had “environmental red flags … including high-demand energy requirements and discharge concerns”.
A spokesperson for Seqwater, which owns land at Meridan Plains, told SCN in August that the state’s water authority was investigating the potential of a desalination plant, and it would be safe and beneficial in times of need.
“The region’s population is booming, putting greater demand on existing water supply assets,” they said.
“Through the known impacts of climate change, we could experience less reliable supply from our dams into the future, with research suggesting SEQ could see an increase in the annual average temperatures and levels of evaporation, as well as potential impacts to the volumes of inflows into our dams.
“A new desalination plant wouldn’t rely on rainfall to operate and could supplement the SEQ water grid during times of severe weather such as floods and drought, due to the climate-resilient benefits desalination provides.”
The project is in the business case phase “assessing the location, capacity and timing for delivery”, and further details were expected by the end of the year.
Seqwater CEO Neil Brennan has told SCN there would be community consultation and there would be no adverse effects on the environment.
“Our desalination process is carefully designed to cause no harm to the existing ecosystem or marine life,” he said.
Meanwhile, the LNP spokesperson stated that if the party forms government it would assess Queensland’s water requirements.
“Over the past decade, Labor has failed to grow water storage capacity to meet the needs of our growing population, putting cost pressures on farmers and families,” they said.
“The LNP will review all of Queensland’s water plans and develop a plan for water security for our population and our agriculture industry for the coming generations.”
The LNP revealed some initiatives, including new weirs at Longreach, Mundubbera and Murgon, planning for an irrigation project in the Scenic Rim and a rebuild of Paradise Dam in Wide Bay.
Mr Crisafulli also said a new dam could be built somewhere in the south-east, before he ruled out locating it in the Mary Valley, where the Traveston Dam project was cancelled mainly due to environmental concerns in 2019.
Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee chairman Ian Mackay said the group was stunned by the “vagueness of the proposal” for a new dam.
“We are astounded that it gets dropped less than a fortnight out from the election, but we’re mostly astounded that someone who aspires to be premier thinks that turning the clocks back 50 years will guarantee a secure water supply,” he said.
“What emerged during the Traveston campaign was the very poor logic in putting all your water supply eggs in the one basket: dams.
“New dams don’t come already filled with water; they are totally dependent on rainfall.”
He said diverse water sources were required, including rainwater tanks, solar-powered desalination plants and recycled water.
“It’s a recognised fact that the best dam sites in South-East Queensland either already have a dam on them or have been alienated by development,” he said.
Independent Member for Noosa Sandy Bolton also panned the dam announcement for a lack of specifics.
“What are residents meant to think when an announcement like this is made in election campaigns with absolutely no detail?” she said.
“I am calling on the leader of the Opposition to rule out any site located in our catchments which would be an environmental catastrophe and go against the wishes of our communities.”
SCN asked the LNP whether a new dam could be anywhere in the Sunshine Coast region but did not receive a direct response.
