What you said about Paradise Dam and Peter Beattie’s apology

Peter Beattie has apologised for significant failures in the construction of Paradise Dam – drawing mixed views from many across the state. JOIN THE CONVERSATION

The entire Paradise Dam wall will need to be rebuilt.

Peter Beattie has apologised for significant failures in the construction of Paradise Dam – drawing mixed views from many across the state.

The former premier, whose government built the dam 20 years ago, said he took full responsibility for the construction failure, which will now result in the dam’s wall being completely rebuilt.

Mr Beattie noted he retired more than 16 years ago, and questioned why the state had taken so long to decide to rebuild the wall.

“For the life of me I can’t understand why it has taken so long to determine that this dam needed to be replaced,” he said.

Former premier Peter Beattie

Mr Beattie said his government was the last Queensland government to build dams, and did so against considerable opposition.

The state government won’t say how much Paradise Dam will cost to rebuild or when it will be completed.

Water Minister Glenn Butcher and Sunwater chief executive Glenn Stockton visited Bundaberg on Thursday to reveal the 20-year-old Paradise Dam wall was too badly damaged to be repaired, with a new wall needing to be built downstream before the dam could return to its full, pre-2020 capacity.

Building a new dam wall is expected to add significant cost to the already four-year, $1.2bn project, but the government said the new price and project timeline was not yet known.

Mr Beattie’s apology over the dam drew praise from many readers, while others claimed it was yet another mess that his government left behind.

Many, though, insisted now is not the time for politics and it’s key the dam is rebuilt.

See what you had to say below and join the conversation >>>

WHAT YOU SAID

What a mess

Darryl

Surely all the original paperwork for the dam is in the SEQ governments archives.

Evosh

If Paradise Dam was constructed properly 18 years ago billions of dollars wouldn’t be needed to rebuild it. I hope it’s going to higher and longer to increase capacity.

Jill

Time to accept the reality of what is; get over the petulant blame game and get it rebuilt! I am certain that all previous government officials and their supervising ministers have always acted in good faith, however I cannot say the same about the company that undertook the initial construction.

The Peril

We can’t really blame the politicians for this mess. It was a clear technical failure on the part of Sunwater because the joint venture that built the dam didn’t really know how to mix, place and compact roller compacted concrete.

Another Labor error

Mark1

And people still vote for these Labor clowns, unbelievable!

Jill

Time to accept the reality of what is; get over the petulant blame game and get it rebuilt! I am certain that all previous government officials and their supervising ministers have always acted in good faith, however I cannot say the same about the company that undertook the initial construction.

Doug

My God, Beattie’s still at it - apologising yet again though he’s been out of politics for 16 years.

Edith

Surely the problem is not how long it has taken to rebuild the dam. Isn’t the problem that Labor government failed utterly to do the job properly, meaning that taxpayers are going to have to pay twice for the same dam?

Beattie is owning it

Edith

Surely the problem is not how long it has taken to rebuild the dam. Isn’t the problem that Labor government failed utterly to do the job properly, meaning that taxpayers are going to have to pay twice for the same dam?

Pauline

It doesn’t really matter who is at fault, it needs to be fixed as soon as possible. I just hope whoever rebuilds Paradise Dam raises the height of the dam at the same time to increase the holding capacity. They could possibly do that at Borumba Dam as well.

Integrity Inferno

Why is Beattie apologising? Isn’t it Campbell Newman’s fault?

patricia

Former premier Beattie apologising for present governments delay for enforcing better dam is an eyeopener leaves public wondering

Fedup

Not Peter Beatie’s fault. Fixing the poorly constructed dam wall is a result of the worst 2 Premiers we were unfortunate to have.

Nicholas

Good on him for putting his hand up, the current mob could learn from his action. I’m actually impressed…