Most Queensland voters support recycled water

The Queensland government will push ahead with a new multibillion-dollar desalination plant despite undertaking secret taxpayer-polling which showed a majority of voters backed the use of cheaper recycled water.

Premier Steven Miles is pushing ahead with a desalination plant approved when his predecessor Annastacia Palaszczuk was leader. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass

The Queensland government will push ahead with a multi-billion-dollar desalination plant despite undertaking secret taxpayer-polling which showed a majority of voters backed the use of cheaper recycled water.

Queensland’s southeast corner needs a new drinking water source by 2035 and the state Labor ­government late last year opted to build an desalination plant on the Sunshine Coast – at a cost of $4bn to $8bn – to avoid a politically dangerous debate about recycled water ahead of the October state election.

The Australian can reveal the Palaszczuk government used taxpayers’ money to gauge public opinion on the use of recycled water in the fortnight before ­cabinet made its decision on ­October 9.

Multiple sources said the-then premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, was apprehensive about triggering another divisive debate on ­recycled water, after Toowoomba residents rejected having it added to their drinking supply at a 2006 referendum.

Results from a poll of 1200 Queenslanders between September 26 and October 6 last year ­revealed that only 13 per cent of people polled were uncomfortable drinking recycled water outside of a drought, 64 per cent were happy to and 23 per cent were unsure.

“Queenslanders are open to the use of purified recycled water, even outside of drought conditions,” read the report from polling company Ipsos Public Affairs. “Almost three in four Queenslanders say that it makes sense to replenish drinking water with ­purified recycled water during times of drought and almost two in three agree it makes sense outside of drought.

“Agreement is lowest on the standard to which purified recycled water is treated, indicating education is needed.”

Of those polled, 68 per cent were comfortable brushing their teeth with recycled water, 15 per cent were not and 17 per cent were unsure.

Qld Premier Peter Beattie (R) and Deputy Premier Anna Bligh in 2007 with recycled water at the Advance Wastewater Treatment Plant @ Bundamba MM461228 Picture: File Photo

Despite the poll results, which were recently made public, cabinet rejected the recycled water ­option which would have been largely cost-neutral because of the existing $2.5bn western corridor recycled water scheme built by Peter Beattie’s Labor government during the millennium drought.

The western corridor scheme supplies power stations with water but has never supplemented drinking supplies. Under the state’s water security program, the recycled water scheme will only be used to top up drinking supplies as a back-up if the water grid levels drop below 40 per cent. On Monday, the southeast Queensland water grid was at 79.1 per cent.

In a statement, Water Minister Glenn Butcher said government’s bulk water supply authority, Seqwater, was undertaking a business case for a new desalination plant north of Brisbane.

“The detailed business case is expected in late 2024. It will outline the most suitable location, size and cost,” he said. “SEQ’s population is projected to reach around six million over the next 30 years so it’s important Seqwater is planning now.”