Annastacia Palaszczuk defends rush to downsize defect Paradise Dam

Queensland premier insists regulations over Paradise Dam ‘a matter of public safety’.

Paradise Dam at Coringa in Queensland. Picture: John Wilson

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has defended rushing through parliament regulations to downsize the defective Paradise Dam, insisting it is a “matter of public safety”.

In state parliament on Wednesday, Opposition leader Deb Frecklington asked why the government was intent on “tearing down Paradise Dam,” near Bundaberg, without community consultation and before a Commission of Inquiry gets started.

Ms Palaszczuk said the decision was taken after experts recommended the state-owned dam’s wall be immediately lowered.

“This is a matter for public safety,” Ms Palaszczuk told parliament, to Opposition MPs’ interjections of “repair it!”

Extraordinary amendments were introduced in Queensland parliament on Tuesday to pave the way for an immediate 5m ­reduction of the spillway of the ­defective Paradise Dam, near Bundaberg, which has continued to irrigate the local region despite it being drought-declared.

Growers and the local council were enraged by the action, which the state government says is ­needed to begin repair works over the winter, saying no work should begin until several reviews and an inquiry are completed.

A commission of inquiry into the 300,000 megalitre dam — opened by the Beattie Labor government in 2005 — begins hearings in March and a review by Building Queensland into repair options is to be finalised within weeks.

Several major safety reviews of the dam, commissioned after it suffered damage in the 2013 floods, have found major design and structural faults and have deemed the 52m-high wall “well below” safety standards.

Locals fear that the government is pre-empting the findings of the inquiry and Building Queensland and moving to permanently lower the spillway — cutting water storage capacity by up to 40 per cent — because of the potential repair bill. The Australian revealed in 2019 that estimates suggest it will cost more than $750m to repair and restore the dam’s existing capacity.

Bundaberg Fruit and Growers managing director Bree Grima said the community was stunned by the legislation, which provides legal coverage to lower the ­spillway, when the government’s own repair report was not finalised and the commission of ­inquiry had yet to begin hearings.

“To rush through these amendments so that they can lower the spillway shows little regard for an agriculture industry employing thousands of people that relies on Paradise Dam,” she said.

“Once the wall comes down, it won’t be coming back up.” The $200m dam was built by joint public-private “alliance” vehicle Burnett Water. Its general manager, Graeme Newton, now heads construction of the $5.4bn Cross River Rail project in ­Brisbane.

In late 2019, a report by Acting Inspector-General of Emergency Management Alistair Dawson said the dam would be unlikely to withstand a repeat of the 2013 floods, which caused massive damage to a slab underneath the spillway and led to the evacuation of 5000 people in Bundaberg.

Bundaberg Mayor Jack ­Dempsey said he was “bewildered by the rush” by the state government to lower the spillway in the next few months.

“Why can’t the government wait for the findings of their own inquiry and their advice from Building Queensland? This has come out of the blue, ’’ he said.

In a statement, Queensland Resources Minister Anthony ­Lynham said the reduction in the height of the spillway was necessary before repair work on the dam could begin.

“The government has made no decision on permanent reduction and will give consideration to Building Queensland,’’ Dr Lynham said.

“The Building Queensland ­report will consider future long-term options for the Paradise Dam spillway.’’

State Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington said the government should be doing everything it could to maintain the capacity of the dam. “Labor is treating the people of the Wide Bay with contempt,’’ she said.

“We should be building more dams, not tearing them down during a drought.”