The Australian newspaper, came out in its editorial of Tuesday 8 January in favour of the dam across the Mary River to be build at Traveston. This dam is fiercely opposed by the local community which faces destruction if its farms comprising some of the most fertile soil in South East Queensland were to become inundated with water. In the face of evidence of turtles and fish being mutilated by equivalent measures at the earlier failed Paradise Dam (see below), the editorial proclaimed that "the ingenuity of science and technology should ensure that the endangered Australian lungfish, the world's oldest vertebrate animal, can continue to flourish".
The editorial also cited the high rate of inter-state immigration into South East Queensland as a justification for the dam. Typically, it never posed the question as to whether the residents of the Mary Valley, or the rest of South East Queensland should have any say in the population growth which has been encouraged by both Federal and the Queensland state Government and The Australian itself.
This editorial prompted Cate Molloy, the former state member of parliament for Noosa who was expelled from the Labor Party for supporting her local community against the dam to write a letter to The Australian on 5 January to correct its misinformation. This letter is reprinted below.
Cate Molloy's Letter to The Australian
Dear Editor,
Could I have my letter published in your letters section please?
With reference to your article "New Dam Essential - Lungfish will flourish with plenty of water" your complete argument is false. The damming of the Mary River will only destroy the natural habitat of the Queensland Lungfish. These fish require a specific breeding habitat not found in dams. The dam will also destroy an agricultural food bowl, an economy of $40 million, displace whole communities with the inherent social trauma, impact negatively on the Great Sandy Straits, and the whale, dolphin, dugong and fish stocks. The dam will also see the extinction of many already endangered species despite such Government sweeteners as promises of research facilities to co-opt vocal academic critics. Moreover, the Qld government's misguided effort to protect endangered species by building fish ladders is also farcical. These are already proven failures on Paradise Dam. When such ladders operate, turtles and fish are only mutilated {evidence based observations}. When all is considered, the nature of changing rainfall patterns, the proposed dam's shallowness, the concomitant massive evaporation loss feeding Greenhouse gases, to say nothing of the environmental damage to the Great Sandy Straits, the dam will be a failure on every front. Instead of pursuing such environmental vandalism with outdated 1950's technology (Qld government's own words), Premier Bligh should instead focus on the industrial water guzzlers down in Brisbane and inform the community of the progress being made on that front since Premier Beattie announcing a Water Emergency in 2006.
Cate Molloy,
Former State Member for Noosa,
Peregian Beach, Qld
07 54483248
cate.molloy|AT|gmail.com
0408729499
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