Mr PERRETT (Gympie—LNP) (7.43 pm):
Queenslanders were recently reminded of the disgraceful—
A further incident having occurred in the public gallery—
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Member, please resume your seat. Order, members in the public gallery!
Members in the public gallery, please resume your seats. I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I ask you
to resume your seats immediately.
Mr PERRETT: Recently Queenslanders were reminded of the disgraceful waste of money by
Labor governments on the failed Traveston Dam fiasco. It was confirmed that what has been called the
biggest bloodbath in the state’s history is officially over. Newspaper reports claim that the cost was a
loss of $318 million, which represents a 50 per cent loss from the purchase and subsequent resale of
properties. I have news for those who read that story: the cost is far greater. Two years ago, in an
answer to me, the government admitted that it expected a $320 million loss, which has now been
confirmed.
A further incident having occurred in the public gallery—
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Stewart): Order! One moment, member for Gympie. Pause the clock,
please. Order! Members in the public gallery, there will be silence. I understand it is an emotional time.
Take your conversations outside. There needs to be silence within the public gallery. Thank you,
members of the gallery. I call the member for Gympie for the third time.
Mr PERRETT: What was not added to the appalling waste of taxpayer’s hard-earned dollars was
the additional $200 million that was spent on reports and investigations. In 2009, the Bligh government
estimated that $200 million was spent on wasted reports, strategies, impact statements, management
costs, design works and investigations. That brings the total to half a billion taxpayer dollars wasted by
Labor on the project.
Labor has form in Gympie. Everyone remembers that the Bligh/Fraser government sold
HQ Plantations for $600 million. They sweetened the deal of that asset sale by removing the obligation
of the new owners to pay rates. A private company was given an exemption from its obligation to our
local community. The wasted $500 million on the Traveston Dam does not include revenue losses from
businesses that closed down or moved away. The squandered money could have built 16 new schools
or paid for 13,800 new police cars, 6,400 ambulances or 4,600 new nurses.
Instead, Labor ripped apart the social, economic and environmental fabric of the Mary Valley
communities. It failed to suitably manage the properties, allowing noxious and invasive weeds to grow
and assets to deteriorate. Families that had been in the community for generations packed up and left.
Farming almost ceased, because there was no certainty that efforts would be rewarded later. Vacant
houses and properties invited crime.
Mary Valley farmers and retailers Amber and Tim Scott said that the dam drama was about more
than real estate. They said it showed all Queenslanders that no home was safe if a government wanted
it for their own purposes. Amber said—
The thing that really struck me was the sense of insecurity … We think that if we own our own property then we have absolute rights over it, but the dam (plan) showed that is not the case. All that investment of money, time and emotion doesn’t mean anything if the government determines that your land is of more importance to their objectives … It really did completely destroy the community.
The Traveston Dam remains an appalling example of Labor’s insensitivity, incompetence, callousness
and complete disregard for a community and taxpayer’s money.