Mayor gets ahead of herself ...

The report in The Australian yesterday foreshadowed an imminent decision by the Federal government on the Water Futures application. Not quite so it seems.

From the Chronicle (annotated):

No word on water funding from PM

The Prime Minister has given "no indication" on when he might announce funding for Toowoomba's water recycling project.

A national newspaper yesterday reported John Howard was "on the verge of agreeing to the partial funding" of the Water Futures project after months of waiting.

However, a spokeswoman for Federal Member for Groom Ian Macfarlane said the journalist had "overstated the case". [I wonder who fed that information to the journalist.]

"There is certainly no indication when an announcement will be made," she said. "We just know that Toowoomba is one of a number of projects the Prime Minister is currently considering."

Toowoomba City Council is reliant on about $25 million in Federal Government funding before the plan to recycle effluent to supplement the drinking supply can go ahead.

The cost is to be shared between council and the State and Federal Governments.

Citizens Against Drinking Sewage co-ordinator Rosemary Morley warned of massive protests if the Prime Minister supported the plan. [This would be interesting - with the State election due early next year.]

She also questioned comments in the national media in which mayor Dianne Thorley said 70% of the community supported the plan. [This is deceptive conduct by the Mayor - see next article.]