INDEPENDENT candidate for Gregory Bruce Currie has pleaded with Queenslanders to recognise the importance of water from Great Artesian Basin to Australia ahead of the January 31 election.
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He said the “shenanigans in the South East” between the major parties was taking the spotlight away from real issues.
Mr Currie is a grazier north of Jericho who successfully won a legal battle against mining giant, GVK, regarding underground water security.
“This Australia Day week, I hope people remember that much of our unique natural beauty is due to water - this lifeblood is vital for both the environment and the economy and should be managed sustainably,” Mr Currie said.
When talking about the Newman government water reforms across Queensland and how he feared for the next generation, Mr Currie spoke with an eerie calmness.
“This government has made it clear it values mining over agriculture and this is not sensationalism by a radio announcer, this is reality,’’ he said.
“For a starters, Newman and Seeney is giving water away to big mining companies and farmers are forced to pay ridiculous prices but that is not the real issue, the real issue is they are allowing the environment to be destroyed in the process with the sheer amount that is being robbed from the system when we do not know the impacts.”
“I am not talking a little bit of water, I am talking two and a half Sydney Harbour amounts of water from one system alone.’’
Mr Currie said that it verged on criminality the way the Newman government amended the Mineral Resources Act to allow miners unlimited interference & access to associated groundwater in their mining operations.
This will result in the loss of water supply for existing landholders and rural communities, he said.
He said Queenslanders, especially those in rural and regional areas, must take a good look at water reform before the election, not only for their own backyard but for all of Queensland.
“Alan Jones might get fired up on this stuff around Acland but it is not just Acland, it is all over Queensland,” he said.