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Water is important

Posted by: Michael Smith | 23 October, 2008 - 11:32 AM
waters

Water is important and people feel strongly about it.

Yesterday Anna Bligh confirmed that Queenslanders will be drinking recycled sewerage from next March - "purified poo" as some put it.

I was surprised to hear that. My recollection of the government's commentary is that recycled sewerage would only be used in industrial applications like power stations. Peter Beattie said putting recycled sewerage in the drinking water supply would only happen in an "Armageddon" scenario.

During the show yesterday your calls confirmed that impression. So I was amazed when we received a call from Robert Hoge from the Deputy Premier's office - he told us that the Labor government went to the last election and was voted in with recycled water clearly on the agenda. He said people had voted for it.

We are being conned. The Labor Party did not go to the election with recycled drinking water on the agenda. Peter Beattie was emphatic before the last election. On Friday 2 June 2006 the Labor government released a statement which said "Premier Peter Beattie and the Minister for Water, Henry Palaszczuk said today that it was not government policy to place recycled water into dams across Queensland." - link

The current Premier and her staff must think we came down in the last shower.

I'm not debating the rights and wrongs of recycled water - just the honesty of the government.

Anna Bligh also tried it on in the last couple of days over the Traveston Crossing Dam. The dam is subject to the approval of the Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett - the state government has to make a submission to him asking for his approval. Yesterday the Premier said the dam was subject to federal approval and "I can't dictate the timing of the Federal Government's decision making." I spoke to Peter Garrett yesterday and he told me that the state government has not yet made any application for him to consider.

So Anna, you can exercise some influence on him - putting the application in would be a good start. It seems very poor form if the state government is buying back land and laying pipes before the project is approved.

Like I said - water is important. We need to get this right. Over to you!

Blog comments Your Say

  • Thanks 4BC for giving residents of SEQ a voice against the lunacy of drinking recycled sewage water. Why is the government in such a rush to add recycled sewage water to our drinking water supplies? The facts as I see them are 1) I did vote Labor at the last election (sorry all) BUT i did NOT vote FOR drinking recycled sewage water 2) Recycled Sewage Water is NOT put directly into drinking water supplies around the world, nor are there long term studies showing the QLD "toilet to tap" method is 100% safe, with "no associated risks" 2) SEQ dams at 40% are nowhere near empty or in an armageddon situation 4) Once the taps are turned "on" will the flow of recycled sewage water to our dams ever be turned "off" - and if not why not? WHY would the government put public health at risk with recycled sewage water, when there have been NO long term studies done here "on the ground" in QLD AUST with this water. Why would the government put public health at risk when there is NO urgent need to do so? I will be voting NO to recycled sewage water in the next election by voting FOR Lawrence Springborg, who today in an article titled - "Recycled sewage 'will have bugs', Queensland Government warned" - in The Australian Online Newspaper "signalled that the Liberal National Party would scrap the project if it won next year's election." http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24568495-5006786,00.html

    No to recycled sewage water Thursday 22 January, 2009 - 10:41 AM
  • My advice to all those who will be using the Licorice Lips Bligh POO Water is to be like my house.
    20000 l in tanks.
    My last bill
    "Water consumption" .012
    kilolitres.
    All water for consumption used from tanks Passes through a water filtration system unit Cost $650.
    My previous water consumption using BCC water was 19 Kiloitres 92 days.
    I will never drink recycled water for as we have seen before MISTAKES (NSW) have been made in filtration of recycled water causing sickness throughout sydney.

    Ronny Eaton Thursday 22 January, 2009 - 10:40 AM
  • It appears as though 'big money - big construction and water industry business' has their tentacles into the Bligh (Beattie) Labor government even more than the Liberals. Remember, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts, absolutely." So why does the Queensland government have supreme power to legislate bad laws without consulting the people? Why is there no censure or checking mechanism? No Senate? No Governor-General who has the power to veto unconstitutional legislation? No 'effective' opposition party to check up on them? (I suspect they may not want to do such 'uncovering' in case someone does it to them when they are in power)

    Sandra Sanderson Thursday 22 January, 2009 - 10:40 AM
  • Toowoomba people have been through hell over the past three years trying to fight the Bligh Government and the previous Council (now kicked out) over forcing them to use recycled sewerage water for drinking - that means babies, children, the elderly, Restaurants, Food Preparation industries. Schools etc.....
    What will this do to the health of the people let alone the Tourist Industry. We had a Referendum - the powers that be called it a Poll so that they would not have to abide by it. We collected thousands of signatures protesting against it. Our citizens paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to finance the No vote. The vote was 62% against the addition of purified Sewage to our drinking supplies. We ran an election campaign against this when the new Regional Council was elected and the Premier threatened on local radio to sack one of the Mayoral candidates who was openly supporting the No vote and campaigning for it before the election was even held. The local media was less than honest and not objective and was biased towards the yes vote. The big guns of the left came to town and ridiculed the opponents of this nefarious scheme and we still won. Now the Gold Coast is having the same battle. There is a lot of money to be made selling bottled water. NO ONE really wants to drink this.There would be no opposition if it was confined to use by Power Stations and industrial use, leaving the fresh water for drinking purposes.People are absolutely disgusted with this jackboot Govt who have arbitrarily given us forced Amalgamation, the Traviston Dam travesty of justice, now forced fluoride. The people of the Gold Coast and Brisbane have a tough dirty fight on your hands.

    Glenis Batten Thursday 22 January, 2009 - 10:40 AM
  • The Queensland State Labour Government did not make the reuse of treated sewage effluent sourced from hospitals, industry, homes and abattoirs, as drinking water an election issue at the last state election.

    This is not an honest government. They have misled and lied to the public on this issue for the past twelve years.

    The public should be aware that this government has been directly involved in four failed attempts to force the introduction of treated sewage effluent, DIRECTLY {Pipe to pipe}, into the public's drinking water supply mains since 1996.

    They have lied to the public by stating that indirect {through a dam} is planned when they intend introducing it directly shortly after.

    They have lied when they stated that what is planned here is carried out worldwide, when both indirect and direct reuse, as are planned here, are both world firsts.

    They lied when they stated that long term health studies prove that what is planned here is safe, proven, when worldwide, no long term health studies have ever been carried out on any community consuming treated sewage effluent sourced from hospitals, industry, homes and abattoirs, mixed with the % of treated sewage effluent, up to 100% as confirmed by Premier Anna Bligh, and used for drinking purposes.

    This government, by their actions, have denied all Queenslanders their hard fought for basic human rights to democracy, freedom of speech, choice and expression.

    They are to use Queenslanders as guinea pigs for research purposes, in a world first intergenerational experiment without consent.

    Laurence Jones Thursday 22 January, 2009 - 10:40 AM
  • Anna Bligh knows that Fluoride is a Poison however she says her job is on the line IF she does not follow the Instructions she has been given by "The Powers That Be" namely those planniong the New World Order and One World Government.

    Trevor Saturday 3 January, 2009 - 5:40 PM

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