September 1, 2021
KENNEDY MP, Bob Katter is calling on the North Queensland Conservation Council (NQCC) to participate in a public debate with himself, over whether more dams and weirs should be built on the Burdekin River system.
In a recent interview with 7 News in Townsville, the NQCC said they're concerned ‘building more dams will be a waste of money when there are other high priority projects that would be of more benefit.’[1]
Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) has long advocated for the building of Hells Gates Dam (The Bradfield Scheme Stage 1) and the Big Rocks Weir on the Burdekin River north of Charters Towers. In 2018, Mr Katter secured $54 million for the two projects from Prime Minister, Scott Morrison.[2]
Mr Katter said the NQCC and its views represent the people of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, not North Queensland.
“They are the voice of people who have never set foot off a pavement,” he said.
“Their towering ignorance knocks nature out of balance, and here they are at it again.
“Building Hells Gates Dam will mean all the underground aquifers up the Burdekin River will be fully charged all of the time. There will be a much greater run and stream flow in the Burdekin. Most of your rainfall goes straight into the aquifers, but if your aquifers are fully charged then it will go down the river. This has been the experience on the Leichhardt River in North West Qld. The stream flow has increased since they built Lake Julius at Kajabbi.”
Mr Katter said not developing North Queensland’s water resources would be an act of stupidity as the region would be one of the wettest countries on earth if it was a separate country.
“There are 1.3 billion people who go to bed hungry every night on this planet and many are starving and dying of malnutrition,” he said.
“If you sit on these water resources and don’t use them, then they will come and rightly take them off you. As the truism goes, ‘a people without land will seek a land without people.’
“I don’t know how these Lily-pad Lefties think we’ll make ends meet? The economy of Queensland is totally and exclusively based on cane, cattle, copper, aluminium and coal. They want the coal industry closed because it’s destroying the planet. Now you can’t smelt copper or aluminium without burning huge amounts of coal.
“They want to close the cane industry because it’s destroying the Great Barrier Reef, and they want the cattle industry closed because it ruins the surface cohesion and patina of the land. So, the ‘gangreens’ need to pull their heads out of their backsides.”
[1] https://www.facebook.com/7NEWSTownsville/posts/4306155309430522
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/nov/08/morrison-spends-200m-to-nail-down-bob-katters-support-for-minority-government