Voters to pass judgment on Council ...
The decision by the Federal government to approve the Water Futures project, subject to majority approval by Toowoomba city voters at a referendum to be held by 30 September 2006, shifts the blame game back to the Mayor.
For months, she has tried to blame the Federal government for holding up her controversial project.
No more.
The decision to provide funding, subject to a majority of the community wanting to drink recycled sewage, is welcomed.
It puts the Mayor and the Council under intense pressure to prove via a referendum that the community supports the project.
When asked on the 7.30 Report aired on Wednesday evening, what level of community support there was for her project, the Mayor replied "I have no idea".
We will soon find out.
Immediately following the announcement, the Mayor was on local radio, once again misleading the community:
- the project will drought-proof the community - this has been shown to be false.
-the project can be up and running in 12 months - also shown to be false - 2011-2012 is more accurate.
The referendum will finally give the community the opportunity to be heard.
Voters will be able to let the Council know what they think of their conduct over this issue - the lies, the deceptions, the arrogance and the incompetence.
In effect, it is an early election ...
posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 1:34 PM
47 Comments:
It's no longer - "if you don't like it, drink bottled water".
Now it's - "if you don't like it vote against it".
Democracy at its finest!
2:17 PM, March 24, 2006
Prehaps we could also have an election of our mayor and councillors then.
The city could have the opportunity to rid itself of these out of control councillors!
2:22 PM, March 24, 2006
Great idea - combine the referendum with an early election for the Council.
2:26 PM, March 24, 2006
This must be the second worst outcome for the mayor - the worst being no funding at all.
She will be afraid of facing the voters on this issue.
Meanwhile there's the prospect of a law suit from the irrigators who may ask for an injunction to stop the project proceeding.
Can things get any worse for the council?
2:29 PM, March 24, 2006
Well done CADS for fighting the mayor on this issue until the people could decide.
Toowoomba people should not be subject to the whims of one person - a referendum will show what the people think.
2:38 PM, March 24, 2006
Statements the Mayor can't use in her "yes" campaign:
- There are no other options.
- Nothing gets through the membranes.
- The water can be online in 12 months.
- The Council has approved the project.
- 70% of the community supports the project.
- The project will drought-proof the region.
2:43 PM, March 24, 2006
Even if the referendum was passed - which seems unlikely, - if the Beattie government loses the election 6 months later - the project would be stopped.
2:47 PM, March 24, 2006
that's right, the opposition has said it will outlaw projects liek the mayor's. How will that work?
2:51 PM, March 24, 2006
The Mayor has to get approval for the project from the community via a referendum.
There's a question as to whether it should be just Toowoomba voters or those from the surrounding communities who take Toowoomba water as well.
Then these's the State election. If the Coalition win, they will outlaw projects such as the Mayor's, favouring other water source options.
In the interim, the Mayor has to contend with groups like Water Facts looking at other water source options.
She also has to contend with a possible lawsuit from the irrigators - that would also hold up the project.
Compared to 6 months ago, the Mayor's project looks more and more unlikely to get off the ground.
2:59 PM, March 24, 2006
I think you will find that if the referendum did give the Water Futures project the nod, that the current opposition would back away from the policy statement to outlaw the indirect potable resysling of water. The Federal Governement seem keento get a project like this off and running, and will likely back the YES campaign.
The current state opposition would be very brave then to block the spending of a Federally supplied grant for a specific project, and also against the wishes of the people.
3:16 PM, March 24, 2006
I think you will find that the Federal government was tired of the Mayor running down to Canberra and blaming them for indecision when they were telling her to go and hold a referendum.
By saying that they will give funding subject to the referendum, they have shifted the decision making process back to the people of Toowoomba where it should be.
This is not what the Mayor wants.
All along she has wanted to dictate her terms to the Toowoomba community - "you'll drink it or else you can buy bottled water".
This "my way or the highway" approach was never going to work.
Now the community gets to make its own decision.
It's unlikely that MP Macfarlane will back the YES campaign.
Also, expect to see Turnbull and co maintain a very low profile - they will let the community decide.
If nothing else, the ratepayers no longer have to pay for the Mayor's continual trips to Canberra.
3:29 PM, March 24, 2006
Everywhere people are surveyed on whether they want to drink recycled sewage - about 70% are against it.
Toowoomba would be the first community anywhere if it decided otherwise.
3:32 PM, March 24, 2006
Maybe the Mayor will stay at home now.
No - she's off to Japan in a week or so.
3:33 PM, March 24, 2006
Agree that if the people of Toowoomba voted overwhelmingly (in the face of other options, irrigator lawsuits, Council deceptions etc) for the Mayor's plan, the State opposition would need to reconsider its stance.
3:44 PM, March 24, 2006
Thank you to Rosemary Morley for pushing and pushing until we got a referendum on the issue.
3:49 PM, March 24, 2006
Questions:
- will the Mayor accept the Federal government's conditional funding offer?
- will the Mayor try to get the State government to provide more funding so she doesn't have to have a referendum?
- will the State government force the Mayor to accept their "option B"?
- will the State government back the Mayor's YES campaign knowing the risk to its re-election chances 6 months later?
3:53 PM, March 24, 2006
one thing's for sure - this is going to be a bitterly fought referendum
4:11 PM, March 24, 2006
Good point - has the council agreed to hold a referendum?
4:32 PM, March 24, 2006
No comment from the council as yet.
4:45 PM, March 24, 2006
No comment on the Water Futures website so far - http://www.toowoombawater.com.au/media-releases.html
Must be trying to figure out how to respond.
4:50 PM, March 24, 2006
I don't think the Mayor will want a referendum - wait and see how she tries to find a way out.
5:06 PM, March 24, 2006
Can you imagine the outcry if Council decided to avoid a referendum and either asked the State government for more funding or asked the private sector to contribute.
Any attempt to do that would send a clear message to the community - "we don't want to hear what you think".
Expect the council has been locked away this afternoon considering their position.
5:44 PM, March 24, 2006
For nine months, the council has not wanted to listen to the community.
Do you think they want to now?
6:00 PM, March 24, 2006
The mayor is on record as saying that if it went to a referendum she would loose. I think she was right.
6:01 PM, March 24, 2006
The NO people will need help, so let them know.
6:02 PM, March 24, 2006
The council should be asked exactly how much of ratepayers' funds it will spend on its yes campaign.
I don't want my rates $s spent funding an advertising campaign for something I don't want.
The council will need to come clean on this.
6:07 PM, March 24, 2006
It's now time for some open debate on all the options. I agree with Macfarlane - "I have asked from the beginning for an open debate about the future of the region’s water supply with a consideration of all options and over the next three to six months that debate will finally occur."
6:39 PM, March 24, 2006
Water plan to go to referendum
From: news.com.au
March 24, 2006
THE Federal Government is ready to pump $23 million into a project in which a Queensland city will recycle effluent into drinking water – but only if residents support the move.
The Government today delivered its long-awaited decision on the controversial project, but it will only go ahead if the majority of Toowoomba residents vote in favour of the plan at a referendum to be held no later than September 30.
Toowoomba City Council, the Queensland Government and the National Water Commission all support the plan, but there is substantial community opposition.
The local federal member, Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane, has also questioned the project.
The Prime Minister's parliamentary secretary for water policy, Malcolm Turnbull, today denied the Government was sitting on the fence by leaving a final decision to the residents.
He said the referendum was the only way to accurately gauge community support.
"Both sides have told me that if there were a vote, they'd get 70 per cent," Mr Turnbull said.
"They can't both be right."
The Federal Government will provide $22.9 million for the project, matching the Queensland Government's contribution.
The remaining money for the $68 million plan will come from Toowoomba City Council and the project's proponents.
Toowoomba, a city of more than 100,000, sits on top of the Great Dividing Range west of Brisbane and has been on water restrictions for the past decade.
The recycling project would see treated sewage augment potable water supplies in a nearby dam.
The Toowoomba project is not unique, with recycled effluent already part of the potable mix in several towns, but the project is the biggest of its kind in Australia.
The New South Wales inland city of Goulburn, which has suffered years of drought and has almost run out of water, has applied for federal funding for a similar project.
"This is a trend that we are likely to see more of in my view," Mr Turnbull said.
"Inland cities have particular challenges because they don't have access to (the) desalination option that cities on the coast do."
Mr Turnbull agreed there was a "yuck factor" attached to the Toowoomba project, but said the Queensland Government and Toowoomba council had told the Federal Government it was the only viable option for securing the city's water supply.
"The people who oppose this proposal will have a very heavy onus to demonstrate that, if it is defeated, that there is a viable alternative," he said.
"There's not a lot of room for fudging here. Toowoomba needs water security."
Mr Macfarlane, the federal member for Groom, said the referendum was the best way forward.
"A project of this significance will succeed only with strong community backing and today's announcement puts this important decision right where it belongs, in the hands of the people of Toowoomba and the Darling Downs," he said.
The federal Opposition today accused the Government of avoiding decisive action on the project.
"The Howard government policy does not guarantee anything for Toowoomba except a delay in how it deals with its water crisis," Labor's water spokesman Anthony Albanese said.
"If the referendum is lost, then what is the solution for Toowoomba's water crisis?"
Well, Mr Albanese, there's always the other options.
6:44 PM, March 24, 2006
Turnbull comment:
He said the referendum was the only way to accurately gauge community support.
"Both sides have told me that if there were a vote, they'd get 70 per cent," Mr Turnbull said.
"They can't both be right."
How do you think the Mayor feels right now - having lied about 70% support.
How confident is she now of getting that level of support?
6:55 PM, March 24, 2006
Even if the referendum is passed, expect Jondaryan and Rosalie shires to look for other water sources - TCC loses two customers.
7:05 PM, March 24, 2006
CADS is easy to find look up the phone book for her name.
7:32 PM, March 24, 2006
Can you believe it has taken since July 2005 for a referendum to be announced - not that the Council has agreed to it yet:
ABC News
Group seeks drinking water referendum
Thursday, 28 July 2005. 08:08
A group of residents, from the southern Queensland city of Toowoomba, concerned about plans to recycle the city's waste water for drinking wants the council to hold a referendum on the issue.
The Citizens Against Drinking Sewerage group says it is putting together a petition against the $115 million proposal.
The group's Rosemary Morley says she supports recycling water for gardens and other household uses, but not for drinking.
"We will be having at least a petition, but we're also looking to call the council to come to a referendum on this issue to all citizens," she said.
"Let's all have our say. When an issue is as large as this one it should be that the public have their say on whether we proceed with drinking this water."
Mayor Di Thorley says the group is not properly informed about council's plans, but is happy to meet them to discuss it.
8:26 PM, March 24, 2006
good on cads for sticking to their guns
9:20 PM, March 24, 2006
Why does Albanese want to take the decison away from the people in Toowoomba?
10:20 PM, March 24, 2006
This is our oppportunity to send council a strong message about their project and their conduct.
10:40 PM, March 24, 2006
CADS details are shown on the blog - www.waterfutures.blogspot.com
11:22 PM, March 24, 2006
The Howard government is just as stupid as TCC and Beattie. Perhaps they all sleep together. Never before have I seen such bull...t, this project will not solve Toowoombas water crisis. Wake up all you beurocratic dumbos!
Wake up all you other people too, this is not a referendum on whether this project will proceed or not, it is a referendum to get Federal funding or not. TCC and the QLP will try to proceed alone even if they lose this referendum.
11:51 PM, March 24, 2006
A resounding no vote at a referendum will make Beattie think twice about funding it 6 months out from a state election.
11:58 PM, March 24, 2006
But you're right - even if they lost the referendum the council will still try to push on with the project - only the council election will solve that.
11:59 PM, March 24, 2006
The mayor would have stood a better chance holding a referendum last July.
Now the truth is out about the other options and the mayor's lies have been exposed, what are her referendum chances now?
1:10 AM, March 25, 2006
News.com.au
Town to vote on drinking sewage
March 25, 2006
TOOWOOMBA residents will decide by September whether they are desperate enough for water to become the first Australians to drink recycled sewage.
The Howard Government has agreed to part-fund a $67.8 million water recycling plant which will top up drinking water supplies in the parched inland town - but only if the local community provides its majority support.
Parliamentary secretary Malcolm Turnbull announced yesterday the "innovative and unique" Queensland project would receive $22.9million if a council-run referendum were successful.
The Toowoomba Council proposed the recycling project in June last year to provide a long-term, sustainable water supply for the region.
The town, a 90-minute drive west of Brisbane, has been on water restrictions for a decade.
Mayor Di Thorley said all other options had been considered and rejected, and she would fight any "scare campaign" with the facts.
A referendum will cost the community about $400,000.
The Queensland Government has agreed to provide $23 million for the project, which has split the community.
Some view the process as unsafe, and are concerned tourists and potential residents would avoid the region.
But others appear perfectly happy to drink recycled wastewater, as is already done in other countries including Japan, the US, England and Singapore.
Citizens Against Drinking Sewage is working on raising funds for a "no" campaign.
"It hasn't been tried and tested and we don't want to be the guinea pigs," Rosemary Morley said.
Federal Industry, Tourism and Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane, Toowoomba's local member, said a referendum was the only way to determine community views.
But Opposition water spokesman Anthony Albanese said the "non-decision" was an abrogation of responsibility that meant Toowoomba would have to wait longer for a solution to its water crisis.
Mr Turnbull said he would not be involved in the referendum process or debate.
But he warned there may be consequences if the community voted against the proposal.
"If the Beattie Government and the council are right, and there are no other viable alternatives, then there would be very real challenges for Toowoomba."
Ms Thorley said water charges could rise 400per cent if water had to be piped in from other regions.
Mr Turnbull said whatever the future of the Toowoomba plant, other cities would turn to wastewater recycling to augment drinking supplies.
Toowoomba's plan is to divert 5000 megalitres (25 per cent) of waste water a year from its sewage works to an advanced treatment plant then pipe it back into Cooby Dam to supplement supplies.
The plant would take about 18 months to build and then the process would be tested for a number of years before water began to be used around 2010.
1:40 AM, March 25, 2006
As always, the federal government toke no initative to investigate Thorley, if they did they would see 99.9% of her talk is lies.
Once again we are brushed under the carpet and left to rot.
All I can say, is thorley has won, as the voting is going to be fixed by the council, so start packing now and find a new home, unless you like the thought of drinking poo water at a rate highest in the world.
11:59 AM, March 25, 2006
Let's not get defeatist. We have a fight to fight and there are lot of good people who will put in a lot time and money to put forward the truth. The Water Companies and the Liberal Party will not win this fight. The mayor has shown her colours she will hop into bed with any political party to make her self famous.
We are Australians and we have a democratic right to say NO!
There are other options, so tell your friends.
3:53 PM, March 25, 2006
There are plenty of people who will continue to fight this project and the dictatorial council - never in the history of Toowoomba has there been a council which has misled the community - told them things which were downright lies. It's amazing that they can still show their faces around town.
12:35 PM, March 26, 2006
Thorley will be off to JAPAN next week and that will take her and a couple of the girls out of the firing line for a while. I say enjoy the trip because there will not be many more at our expense.
3:09 PM, March 26, 2006
great - she's supposed to be sorting out Toowoomba's water problems and she's off on a world trip.
1:55 PM, March 27, 2006
Vote no if you are tired of the Mayor and her experts telling you that you're stupid for not taking their leap of faith with their project.
Vote no if you want to send the Council and Beattie a message - that you won't be told that you have to drink recycled water or else.
5:17 PM, March 28, 2006
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