Amanda Camm MP calls out Environment Minister

Source: Mackay Conservation Group.

THE Member for Whitsunday, Amanda Camm MP, stood up for the Pioneer Valley community in Queensland Parliament on Tuesday.

In late September this year, Queensland Labor announced its plan to introduce a pumped-hydro project called the Pioneer Burdekin Hydro Scheme.

Ms Camm said she was not against hydro energy but had a problem with Queensland Labor’s steam-roller approach to introducing the scheme.

“I support the Urannah Dam project, which has been through the stakeholder engagement process and the required environmental assessments,” Ms Camm said.

“Urannah Dam would open up 20,000 hectares of highly productive, irrigated, agricultural land and provide a water supply for industry and residents.”

She said it was a practical and feasible development in which taxpayers had already invested significantly.

“In contrast, we have this fake plan from Queensland Labor for the Pioneer Burdekin Hydro Scheme,” Ms Camm said.

“Labor’s ‘plan’ has limited detail and seems to have been put together on a whim.

“As far as we can tell there has been no stakeholder engagement, no environmental assessments; they’ve just gone ahead and created a whole lot of fear and anxiety for the residents of the Pioneer Valley.

“These were the matters I raised with the Minister for Environment in Queensland Parliament.

“Why hasn’t the Minister for Environment visited the site since the announcement of this project?

“How can a Minister for Environment support a project that threatens multiple species, the livelihoods of farmers, and the local tourism industry?”

Ms Camm said the proposed site took in Eungella National Park which was home to iconic Australian animal species like the honeyeater bird, the Irwin’s turtle and the platypus.  

“No-one wants to see these species sacrificed at the altar of Labor’s hodge-podge hydro pipedreams,” she said.