Cairns water security: Mayor lashes out after $600m Paradise Dam funding
Outrage is simmering away after a $600m federal government pledge to finish off a half-cooked southern dam project while water security goes unfunded in Cairns.
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OUTRAGE is simmering away after a $600m federal government pledge to finish off a half-cooked southern dam project while water security goes unfunded in Cairns.
The Morrison Government has matched the State Government’s initial investment in Paradise Dam in the Wide Bay Burnett region, bringing the total commitment to $1.2bn.
About $615m has gone to Townsville’s Haughton Pipeline, and Rookwood Weir in Central Queensland has notched up $366m from the two political tiers.
Cairns Mayor Bob Manning lashed out at the apparent disconnect after repeated attempts to get the $215m Cairns Water Security Project funded on a 50:50 deal between the state and federal governments.
The mayor met with Mulgrave MP Curtis Pitt and Cairns MP Michael Healy on Friday and told them the slow progress was unfair.
“If they want to talk about business cases, let’s look at Townsville where the state is investing $420m right now to support water security,” he said.
“The Townsville Haughton Stage 2 project had a business case that failed and yet it’s still proceeding with $195m of state funding.
“So the state is happy to tip in over $400m to secure Townsville’s water needs out to the end of the century, put another $600m into Paradise Dam to fix a problem of their own making, but nothing for Cairns when our problem is right here right now, and we’re only asking for fraction of what’s been committed in other regions.”
The project will require federal investment, but Cr Manning might be in for a shock if he expects an election commitment from either major party.
Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch said he was certain funding would be forthcoming before the city his crisis point but it was unlikely to be an election issue.
“This has only been put on my desk in the past 12 months,” he said.
Labor candidate for Leichhardt Elida Faith said it was an important project with a lot of moving pieces but made no commitment.
“At this stage it’s an ongoing conversation and I’m keeping engaged with everyone involved,” she said.
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Originally published as Cairns water security: Mayor lashes out after $600m Paradise Dam funding
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