Watershed Victoria

Suez Environnement estimates the Victorian desal plant will generate more than $2 billion in revenue over the next 30 years. With ADF Suez’ existing record of environmental destruction in the Amazon, their submission should be dismissed.

The Age - Desal firm logged the Amazon

GDF Suez's majority is owned by Energia Sustentavel. Energia Sustentavel is building a 3,300 megawatt hydroelectric dam in Brazil. The project is part of the government's Accelerated Growth Program and has had its share of false starts since receiving its environmental building permits earlier this year. Local farmers have been blocking access to the road leading to the construction site since early Monday morning (27th July), impeding workers from entering the project

This globalisation of our water supplies will be funded by the users, Victoria's citizens.

Our capitalistic "growth is good" mentality needs to be given a reality check!

With no discussion of limiting growth, it will mean that our pockets will continue to be raided to pay for one of life's essentials - water. More coastline sites will need to be acquired and developed, greenhouse gas emissions will soar and marine ecosystems could be irreversibly damaged.

It is us, the customers, who will be paying for the demands of our growing and thirsty population.

The massive Thomson dam was finished in 1983 and was supposed to "drought proof" Melbourne. Our population has already exceeded the level its dams were intended to cater for and is still being increased, despite our environmental and our natural resource limitations.

Household water bills are expected to more than double over the next five years, and along with ETS, utilities will continue to rise as our natural resources become more expensive to produce.

1.2 million tonnes of greenhouse gases will be emitted each year once it starts boosting Melbourne's water supply. Limiting greenhouse gases is just given lip-service!

The plant will take in 480 billion litres of seawater and pump back 280 billion litres of saline concentration each year. The effect of this pollution on the marine environment and biodiversity is unknown.

The cost of the plant and the ultimate clean-up will be passed onto consumers, and the benefits of continual population growth will be reaped by our State government. More people means that more taxes and charges can be elicited, and businesses and developers will continue to thrive!

With common sense, conservation, mandatory water tanks and more recycling, we could survive on our present water harvesting schemes but not if we continually push our numbers past natural limits.
However, logic is lacking in our present leaders!

Visit Watershed Victoria's website.

Mr RYAN (Leader of The Nationals),speaking in Parliament on 11 June 2009, said, "Yesterday, together with the member for Bass and other members of Parliament from the conservative side of politics, I was on the front steps of Parliament House when yet another rally was conducted by Victorians who came to the Parliament to complain about the excesses of the Brumby government.

The organisations involved in yesterday’s rally [10 June 2009] were the Coalition of Concerned Councillors, an organisation called Planning Backlash, and another organisation called Watershed Victoria. I was presented with about 3000 letters in relation to issues to do with the desalination plant. Part of one letter reads as follows:

I am dismayed by Mr Brumby’s intention to build the largest, climate-change-accelerating desalination plant in the southern hemisphere on the pristine Bass Coast. There is no mandate. It is a total about-face to ALP re-election Water Policy of ‘recycling and conservation, that will secure Melbourne’s water supply’

… Desalination uses enormous energy, and is enormously expensive. The Brumby government has spent millions of tax payers dollars attempting to deliberately distort and mislead the community into accepting this disastrous project without openly and transparently evaluating sustainable and superior water alternatives …"

I have undertaken to provide these letters to the Premier, and I will. The people of Victoria are sick of the taint of corruption, issues to do with financial management, taxation, matters to do with the destruction of people’s rights — all things this government campaigned on and is now ignoring.

Source: Victorian Hansard June 11, 2009