Traveston Dam Crossing - proposed site. Photo by patrickmccully, Flickr
Traveston Crossing Dam campaign - a win!
The Queensland Government has responded to community concern and a vigorous campaign by Australian Conservation Foundation supporters by announcing the delay of the proposed dam at Traveston Crossing for ‘several years’. On 25 November, Premier Anna Bligh made a statement to the Queensland Parliament that the Queensland Co-ordinator General had indicated that the Traveston Crossing Dam proposal was unlikely to receive Federal Government approval due to environmental concerns.
The Federal Environment Department has also released an independent report outlining the many scientific reasons why the Traveston Crossing Dam would negatively impact on endangered and vulnerable species including the Mary River Turtle, Mary River Cod, and the Australian Lungfish. The issue of the impact of dams on Lungfish is also at the centre of a Federal Court action brought by Wide Bay Burnett Conservations Council against the Paradise Dam, with the support of a range of environment groups. The Paradise dam is on the Burnett River just north of the Mary River near Fraser Island, and these are the only two rivers in the world where this living fossil fish survives in its natural environment. The impact on these species is important because these species trigger the national environment laws that are supposed to reject proposals that threaten endangered species.
The dam has not yet been formally rejected by the Queensland Government, and it hasn’t yet been forwarded for the formal decision to the Federal Government either, so it is important we keep up the pressure to ensure some certainty for the Mary River, but this is the strongest signal yet that the Traveston dam proposal will not be going ahead. If it is proposed in ‘several years time’ this will not change the independent scientific evidence that will enable it to be rejected at the Federal level. Both the Liberal National Party and the Greens in Queensland have formal policies against the building of the dam. So unless the dam is rejected completely, it is likely to remain an important issue in the lead up to the Queensland election.
There are many people who have contributed to the success of the campaign so far - principally the people of the Mary Valley who banded together and learnt how to do media, lobby politicians, fundraise, and gather an extraordinary amount of evidence to oppose the dam. Lots of pro-bono support from scientists, water engineers, photographers - all kinds of people of goodwill. And of course the many ACF supporters who sent letters to politicians and raised awareness of the plight of the Mary River with friends and family – a big thank you!
Long live the lungfish swimming oblivious that it came so close to oblivion! And long live the Mary River turtle who let’s face it, is a lot cuter than the lungfish.