Queenslanders will pay the hidden price of the Paradise Dam for years to come, Opposition Shadow Water Minister, Deb Frecklington said this week.
But one Bundaberg region irrigator, Joe Russo, expressed a fondness for the dam-building ex-Premier, Peter Beattie, who took responsibility for the failure.
Mr Russo said Mr Beattie’s honest apology resonated with growers and praised him for having “delivered so often for the region.“
Ms Frecklington indicated she thought this would be a rare sentiment among fruit and vegetable producers and consumers facing shortages and price hikes.
Farmers were “already facing some of the most uncertain growing conditions on record along with the skyrocketing cost-of-living pressures.“
She said Premier Steve Miles should answer the question posed by Mr Beattie: “If the problems were identified years ago, why has there been such a delay?”
She said the government’s “sudden interest in fruit and vegetable price rises“ came at a time when government actions would further drive them up.
Burnett MP Stephen Bennett said the dam was “quite possibly the greatest infrastructure fail in our nation’s history.“
He said his office had been “flooded with calls from distressed residents who are still in disbelief.“
Bundaberg Fruit and Vegetable Growers CEO and LNP candidate Bree Watson said implications for farmers were catastrophic.
And there was no doubt the problems would drive up food prices.
Bundaberg Labor MP Tom Smith succeeded in his call for former Premier Peter Beattie to apologise and this week said Mr Beattie’s ready acceptance of responsibility showed him as “an individual of great integrity, extending an apology to our community and accepting the political responsibility.
“Peter and his Government delivered a lot for Bundaberg and the whole of the Wide Bay region during an important time in Queensland’s history.
He said the Beattie Government had inspired him to “join the (Labor) cause.
“However, it is my job as the Member for Bundaberg to call it as I see it, and to speak out on behalf of my community when it is needed.“
Meanwhile farmers in the Bundaberg region are calling for a legislated ban on water sales from Paradise Dam while the dam is at its reduced capacity.
Irrigator spokesperson Judy Plath said legislation was “the only way to stop Sunwater selling more water from Paradise Dam.“
Lychee and macadamia grower, Craig Van Rooyen, one of those who successfully agitated for the dam to be built, said local growers were “aghast at the news that Sunwater was in secret talks with potential buyers of water while work on the reinstatement of Paradise Dam had not even begun.
“They have been in secret negotiations since 2022 to sell water they literally do not have”.
Childers cane, peanut and macadamia grower Joe Russo backed the legislation call and called for Mr Smith to do the same.
And he thanked Mr Beattie for his positive contribution to the region and “for recognising the importance of his words to our local industry and community at this time; a community he delivered for so often as Premier.“
