Toowoomba Water Futures website - 31 July ...

What is expected to happen to the Council's Water Futures website:

See - Water Futures website - 31 July 2006.

Toowoomba water crisis: please explain your lies of 2 years ago Mr Beattie ...

Read the Qld Coalition press release:

Toowoomba water crisis: please explain your lies of 2 years ago Mr Beattie.

Premier Beattie switches to recycled water for non-potable use ...

From Qld Business Review:

Companies, not people, should drink effluent

31 July 2006

Southeast Queensland would have enough drinking water if companies rather than people drank effluent, says Premier Peter Beattie.

He says the Brisbane City Council should finalise deals which would allow the major water using companies, such as fertilsier manufacturer Incitec, to use treated effluent rather than drinking quality water for their industrial processes.

Incitec, whose Brisbane plant is next door to Brisbane' s major effluent treatment plant, uses 6.5 million litres of drinking water a day while Caltex nearby uses 5.2 million and Brisbane Airport Corporation just across a fence uses 4.2 million.

If these three major water users in Brisbane used treated effluent, 16 million litres a day more drinking water would be available to southeast Queensland's burgeoning population, Premier Beattie said.

"It is a simple matter for the city council to make recycled water available for these three big industrial users," he said.

Incitec and Caltex have been trying for years at access the Council's recycled water, but Beattie says the Council wants to charge them more than for drinking water!

Currently Brisbane City Council sends the 170 million litres of treated effluent into Moreton Bay, rather than using the enviromnemntally treated water for other purposes, such as for major industrial users. This quantity is more than would come from the government's two proposed dams in southeast Queensland.

Premier Beattie says this would enable water to be saved from dams, while using recycled water for its best purpose, industrial use rather than for drinking as failed to impress Toowoomba residents in their Saturday referendum.

Source - Qld Business Review - Companies, not people, should drink effluent.

Greg Leslie comes back to play ...

Toowoomba City Council's so-called 'independent' expert, resurfaces to give his views on the NO vote.

From ABC News:

Associate Professor Greg Leslie says if Toowoomba residents had been given more information before the referendum they would have voted differently.

"What we need to do is make sure that when the next vote comes along there's a more informed debate," he says."The next town that makes this decision would probably do it in a more enlightened environment rather than one that was dominated by [the belief] you'll be drinking turds from your toilet."

Source - ABC News - NO vote wins.

Well, Dr Leslie, you had almost one year to provide this information to Toowoomba residents.

In that time, neither you nor the Toowoomba City Council could explain how a fundamentally flawed project was the best thing for Toowoomba.

No-one could explain how you could get 11,000 ML of recycled water from 8,000 ML of raw sewage.

No-one could explain where the RO waste stream would go - Acland Coal didn't want it.

Good luck on the next project - but it would be better to start with something that works before you try to sell it to the public ...

Irrigators push for bore water sales to Toowoomba ...

From ABC News:

Irrigators push for bore water sales to Toowoomba

31 July 2006

Irrigators on Queensland's Darling Downs say they will push ahead with a plan to sell water to the Toowoomba City Council, after residents overwhelmingly voted against using recycled water.

At a referendum on Saturday, 62 per cent of Toowoomba residents said they were not prepared to use treated waste water to alleviate shortages.

John McVeigh, from lobby group NuWater, says irrigators can sell 5,000 megalitres of bore water to the city each year.

"Irrigators in our part of the world have put on the table a concept of urban rural water trade, now that's a concept that is getting support from CSIRO and is certainly something that has been practised in Israel and California," he said.

"We remain ready, willing and able to put that option on the table and that's what we've been saying to local government for 12 months now."

Source - ABC News - Irrigators push for bore water sales to Toowoomba.

Praises heaped on 'hero' housewife ...

From the Courier Mail:

Praises heaped on 'hero' housewife

By Amanda Gearing

31 July 2006

TOOWOOMBA housewife Rosemary Morley has become an overnight folk hero after successfully opposing a $460,000 council campaign to introduce water recycling.

Mrs Morley has received dozens of phone calls of congratulation from local residents as well as from people interstate and overseas since news of the "no" case win emerged.

"I've lost my voice today with so many people who can't say thank you enough," she said yesterday.

"I won, I won, I won. It was a hell of a battle but I wouldn't have missed it for quids."

She said more than a dozen people had phoned saying they had been going to leave Toowoomba if recycling was to be introduced and were relieved that they now did not have to leave town.

"We are going to have our clean, green image again," she said.

Mrs Morley said the campaign had overtaken her life for the past year.

"There has not been much time for my husband and family, but I was encouraged to keep going by the courage and sheer determination of everyday people," she said.

"All we had was a computer, a phone and a photocopier. We had no paid staff and this has all been done by the community."

She admitted to being surprised by the breadth of community concern about recycling, which ranged from young people to the elderly and from professional people to tradesmen.

"That's why I find it so offensive at being labelled a flat earther. It shouldn't have been said and it doesn't apply," she said.

Looking to the future, Mrs Morley said she had no big plans and would wait and see what happened.

Cr Lyle Shelton, one of three councillors against recycling, praised Mrs Morley for enduring what he called a campaign of vilification by City Hall.

Source - Courier Mail - Community triumphs over Thorley.

On Monday morning ...

Premier Beattie tries to salvage his election chances ..

Premier Beattie has announced that he wants a wider referendum on drinking recycled sewage to coincide with the local government elections in 2008.

He does NOT want to hold it at the time of the State election early next year.

Although this may just be Premier Beattie's Saturday night flip flopping, he seems to be trying to isolate himself from an election backlash at the next State election.

Knowing Toowoomba's NO vote success (and his own private polling), he is aware that recycled sewage is a turkey come election time.

Here's a quote from Premier Beattie on 60 Minutes last week (23 July 2006):

RAY MARTIN: Premier, what would happen if tonight on 60 Minutes you said, "Sorry, Brisbane, you've got to cop it. We're about to... "

PETER BEATTIE: I'd probably get shot politically. That's what would happen.

See - 60 Minutes - Waste water.

He knows it so is trying to get some space between the recycled sewage issue and the State election.

The Mayors are obviously not impressed by Premier Beattie trying to make it into a local government election issue - fearful of 'feather-duster' status.

From ABC News (annotated):

Recycled water vote needed urgently: mayors

30 July 2006

South-east Queensland mayors have attacked Premier Peter Beattie's plan to hold a referendum in 2008 on the use of recycled effluent for drinking water in the region.

Mr Beattie announced the referendum after 60 per cent of Toowoomba residents voted against topping up their city's water supply with recycled sewage.

The Brisbane region's dams are at 28 per cent capacity, with level four water restrictions expected to come into force at the end of August.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman says the water crisis is so critical that Mr Beattie should hold the referendum as soon as possible.

"What we need now is strong leadership," he said.

"The Premier will get the support of local government to take the necessary decisions, but trying to cloud the issue at a local government election just isn't on.

"If they need to have a referendum, hold it now, hold it in the next few months, hold it at the state election, but don't put off such a vital decision for 20 months."

Mr Newman says leaving the vote so long is a political game.

"Water supply security planning is a State Government responsibility," he said.

"The Premier and the State Government need to tell the community how serious the water supply situation is right now and they need to make decisions right now.

"Putting off decisions until March 2008 is simply not on - it's a bit of a political game."

But Mr Beattie says the region can afford to wait until 2008 to put the issue to referendum.
"I think the water grid strategy, provided we build dams and build pipelines and have desalination, we can get by without using recycled water for drinking," he said.

An outspoken supporter of the 'no' campaign in Toowoomba says Mr Beattie will find it impossible to convince people that drinking recycled effluent is okay.

Rosemary Morley, from Citizens Against Drinking Sewage (CADS), says the Premier would be defeated if he went to a state election trying to sell the idea.

She says it is not surprising he wants the referendum to be held during local government elections.

"I think you'll find every mayor that has to look at that will be throwing it straight back at Mr Beattie and if he really wants to do it - do it at his state election where it can be fought on the grounds that he set out," he said.

But Toowoomba Mayor Di Thorley says with education, people can be convinced that recycled effluent is safe to drink.

She says Mr Beattie has 20 months to campaign.

"When you consider we had three months in which to sell a contentious issue and got 40 per cent of the vote, I think you'll find with more education they'll be able to get it over the line," Ms Thorley said.

[No Mayor Thorley, you had from March 2004 to convince the Toowoomba public. The Council's plan was to bring the project in secretly between elections. It slipped out into the public arena in July 2005 - so don't pretend you only had three months - that sort of lame excuse just won't work.]

See - ABC News - Mayors don't want to vote on it.

BREAKING NEWS - Toowoomba knocks back recycled water plan ...

... Mayor Thorley concedes defeat.

From ABC News:

Toowoomba knocks back recycled water plan

29 July 2006

The Mayor of Toowoomba, Queensland's biggest inland city, has conceded defeat over a proposal to add recycled water to drinking supplies.

Toowoomba residents were asked to approve a plan to draw 25 per cent of the city's water from recycled effluent.

With 32,000 of 60,000 votes counted, 62 per cent of residents have voted against the proposal.

Lyle Shelton is one of three councillors who campaigned against the proposal and is encouraged by the early result.

"That's probably about what the 'no' case was expecting," he said.

A short time ago, Mayor Di Thorley conceded the city would not be drinking recycled water.

"At the end of the day, we still don't have a water project," she said.

She says it is now up to the Queensland Government to drought-proof the city.

Source - ABC News - NO case wins.

4350water - referendum mode ...

This section will appear at the top of 4350water until 6.00 pm on 29 July 2006.

4350water is a blog providing commentary on the proposed Toowoomba Water Futures project.

A referendum on the introduction of recycled sewage into Toowoomba's drinking water supply has been scheduled for 29 July 2006. During the referendum period (from 27 May until 29 July), 4350water will continue to provide commentary on the proposed Toowoomba Water Futures project. During this period, if you wish to submit comments, it will be necessary to use a blogger name. Anonymous comments will not be permitted, however, pseudonyms such as "waterage", "anti-thorley" or "pro-thorley" etc. are allowed.

4350water provides links to certain other blogs and websites but, other than in relation to 4350election and it's ok to say no, is not responsible for, and has no control over, the content of those blogs or websites.

For further commentary on this issue see - End of the blogs? Short answer ... or End of the blogs? Long answer ...

New Blog articles appear below ...

It's polling day ...

Which way will it run ..

Excerpt from the Courier Mail:

Which way will it run?

By Steven Wardill

29 July 2006

In halting prose filled with emotion, an elderly man rose before a packed Empire Theatre to thank Clive Berghofer, a man synonymous with Toowoomba development.

"We want to say a heartfelt thank-you to Clive Berghofer for his unbelievable support to our fight to stop water coming into Toowoomba for drinking that has come from sewerage treatment works.

Good on you Clive," said 83-year-old retired chemist Ernie Noack, expressing deep gratitude shared by the 1000 people who had gathered in the picturesque range city's art deco theatre to hear the case against recycling effluent into the water supply.

The meeting, in the final week of the referendum campaign which has put the city on the international map, was far more popular than a similar "yes" case event several blocks away.

Reports suggested no more than 11 people turned up to hear how recycling could be a cost-efficient means of topping up the parched city's water supply.

Run by the office of the Mayor, the colourful Di Thorley, the "yes" case has cost close to $460,000.

But it may all be for nothing. For the high-profile "no" case has Berghofer.

In political campaigning terms, Berghofer is an invaluable asset.

To Toowoomba residents, a city renowned for its conservative ways, for its family-friendliness and its natural beauty, he is a saviour.

For them, he is the man with the courage to stand up and be counted, to fight for the right of Toowoomba not to be used as a petrie dish for what he sees as a scientifically untested case for recycling.

He's also the man who spent $40,000 of his own – albeit considerable wealth – on his public campaign.

Immensely popular, the power he wields is borne of his "salt-of-the-earth" commitment to the community, in money and in kind.

After moving to the city as a young man and creating a construction and later development business, he amassed a personal $280 million fortune – all of which, he says, is invested in Toowoomba.

If he wanted to he could, he insists, sell up and live on the $20 million a year he estimates he could make in interest.

Toowoomba has been good to him, he says, and he in turn has been good to Toowoomba, giving away $50,000 a week to sports clubs, hospitals, schools and community groups. He also gives to needy individuals, preferring to hear such requests for aid in person, rather than receiving written applications.

"No person or corporation can come anywhere near to Clive for donations to organisations, institutions, charities and also individuals who have come to him for help. I myself have experienced his kind generosity," Noack said at the meeting this week.

"We know his enormous store of experience and knowledge and he is well qualified to talk about solutions to this awful crisis with water, that are both viable and cost-allowable."

It's been a feisty campaign, but Berghofer is confident the "no" vote will win, based on the response to a four-page paper he published which has drawn hundreds of responses.

"Some who were 'yes' voters have changed their mind and others who were undecided are voting 'no'," he said.

The simple truth is no one really knows what the majority thinks about recycled water, because no one has asked. Until now. That's why the Toowoomba vote has such significant implications for state and national politics.

Premier Peter Beattie surprised many Labor people this week when he declared his support for adding recycled water to drinking supplies and suggested he would seek an election mandate to do just that.

This came only weeks after he insisted recycling water was only an "Armageddon solution". His statement on Wednesday galvanised Queensland's political landscape into two distinct camps with the Coalition opposed to recycling waste water for drinking in all cases except as a desperate last resort.

The effect is the two sides finally have a distinct difference to present to the community on water, the issue that will now define the next state election due in March but could be held as early as next month.

Additional reporting by Amanda Gearing.

For the full story see - Which way will it run.

Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Councillor can't be bothered ...

... to tell us why they're voting Yes.

Are they voting No?

The Water Futures website promises that each one of the six pack will tell us why they're voting Yes.

With polling opening in less than 12 hours, Mayor Thorley, Deputy Mayor Ramia and Councillor Englart remain silent on why they're voting Yes - if in fact they are voting Yes.

See - Water Futures - Thorley, Ramia and Englart aren't sure.

Oops ...

Polling day ...

Ask the Yes campaigners if they are from Toowoomba.

It will be interesting to hear their response ...

Mr Turnbull - your proposal is acceptable ...

Comments by MP Malcolm Turnbull:

"The people who advocate the 'No' vote have a very heavy responsibility for coming up with an alternative if the No vote is cast on Saturday," Mr Turnbull told reporters in Brisbane.

Source - SMH - A No vote gets all the options on the table.

Should the No vote succeed tomorrow, you will be amazed how easy it will be to implement some of the so-called 'non-existent' other options ...

Mayor Thorley recycles some Advisory Panel members for a final comment ...

That's their best last day effort?

Getting several members of Council's disbanded Advisory Panel to say they will vote Yes?

Surely they can do better than that?

It is the last day before polling.

Apparently not.

Referred to as "four eminent community figures".

Without naming names:

One was put on the Advisory Panel to give him something to do in retirement.

One knows something about weeds.

One has been heard to say that Council can't win the referendum.

And one runs the Council's Empire Theatre.

See - Council recycles Advisory Panel members for a final comment.


Most likely, NONE of them has actually read the Council's NWC funding application ...

Mayor Thorley finds CADS petition hard to swallow ...

Faced with almost 12,000 signatures on the CADS petition, Mayor Thorley beat a hasty retreat to her office.

Perhaps to contemplate life after Saturday?

From the Courier Mail:

Petition hard to swallow

By Amanda Gearing

28 July 2006

IN a fiery display at Toowoomba City Hall the main opponents in tomorrow's water recycling debate faced off for about two seconds – then retreated to their respective corners.

After Citizens Against Drinking Sewage co-ordinator Rosemary Morley handed a bundle of 12,000 petition signatures to Mayor Dianne Thorley, the mayor took the bundle, said a terse thank you and immediately retreated to her office.

Mrs Morley was left to explain the dummy spit to a media gaggle that has arrived in the city to cover the poll tomorrow.

"She made it plain she doesn't want to speak to me," Mrs Morley said.

She said the council had not consulted the community about possible water supply options before committing to water recycling, and opponents had been gathering signatures for the past 12 months.

"The petition shows that we mean business," she said.

Documents show the council identified the need for a new dam in 1996 but in late 2004 there were no new water source options on the drawing board.

Faced with drought and rapidly dwindling supplies, the council was told it was not in a position to undertake an extensive community consultation program to identify water sources and an adaptation of a water recycling plan first proposed in 1996 was adopted.

Mrs Morley said she hoped that after tomorrow's poll the council would consult the community about the alternative water sources that had now been identified.

Outside City Hall, most voters at the pre-polling booth refused to take both the "yes" and the "no" how to vote cards.

No voter Ngaire Macqueen said she didn't take either of the how-to-vote cards because she had made up her mind using information in the media and mailed out to residents.

Mrs Macqueen, a naturopath, said health was the most important issue to her and she had looked at the processes and whether they would be sustainable and healthy.

"I voted no just because most man-made processes don't tend to be 100 per cent forever. I'm worried about problems with health for people at large," she said.

Yes voter Cathy Ferguson also said she had already made up her mind but took both how-to-vote cards to be polite.

"I think we haven't got any more choices. (Recycling) seems the only commonsense way to go to guarantee there is going to be some water there," she said. "I don't think anybody would like sewage in their water but we have to."

Source - Courier Mail - Thorley dummy spit.

But mummy - do we have to drink it ...

... just because you might want to run for Council in 2008?

Political propaganda through the [ab]use of children at its worst.

Should the NO vote succeed tomorrow, arrangements could be made to drop off some Wetalla recycled sewage so you can keep feeding it to your kids ...

(Thumbs up: Paul and Kirsty Smolenski says their kids 'love' the taste of recycled water. Picture: Patrick Hamilton - See - Australian)

London does NOT drink recycled sewage Mr Beattie ...

Read the Qld Coalition's press release - London does NOT drink recycled sewage Mr Beattie.

Recycled water for industry, not households ...

From ABC News:

Recycled water for industry, not households: Quinn

27 July 2006

The Queensland Opposition says industry should be required to use recycled water, rather than forcing householders to use the product.

The Premier Peter Beattie says it is inevitable that Queenslanders will eventually be drinking treated waste water.

But Liberal leader Bob Quinn says the Coalition would put more responsibility on industry.
"The Coalition has a policy of using all recycled water for industrial, commercial and agricultural purposes," he said.

"We don't want to see any of it being put back in to our fresh water supplies.

"The use of recycled water in industry, commerce and agriculture should relieve the pressure on our fresh water supplies."

Toowoomba, in southern Queensland, is only two days away from the ballot that will decide whether to add recycled water to its drinking supply.

Mr Beattie says if the result is a yes vote he would consider asking voters at the next state election if the Wivenhoe Dam could also be topped up with waste water.

Source - ABC News - Use it for industry.

Toowoomba must vote Yes?

Interesting opinion piece in the Courier Mail:

See - Toowomba must vote Yes.

Why?

Because people not from Toowoomba tell us to.

Not a good reason ...

An ABC photo Toowoomba City Council will hate ...

See - Hormones in recycled water.

Some scientists, no wait - some teachers signed a letter ..

Interesting headline in today's Chronicle:

Scientists to state case in Chronicle.

See - Chronicle - Desperate Council gets USQ teachers to sign a letter.

So you think - lots of experts in water recycling from around the world?

Not quite.

You read on:

More than 40 leading Toowoomba academics have put their signatures to an open letter in support of water recycling.

So suddenly it's not scientists, it's Toowoomba academics.

The read on further.

Scientists, engineers and professionals from a broad range of faculties at the University of Southern Queensland, including education and economics, will have a letter published in The Chronicle tomorrow highlighting their concern about "highly inaccurate" information circulating in the community and call on Toowoomba people to look at scientific facts when voting.

So its a few scientists, engineers, and others in education and economics.

That's right, it's a letter from teachers to Toowoomba voters.

And what do they say:

"It is our professional opinion that the recycling of water – as proposed by the Water Futures project – will provide water at least as good or better in terms of safety and drinking quality than any other option currently available, the letter states."

So a group of teachers - some in science, some in engineering, some in education and some in economics - say it's ok - in their professional opinion!

Phew, that's a relief.

And they're all from USQ - the heartland of the failed Council-affiliated Pure H20 group who were unable to put their petition on the table after claiming that getting 20,000 signatures was in the bag.

The CADS petition handed to Mayor Thorley this morning amounted to almost 12,000 signatures - including many professionals.

Mayor's Thorley's hastily arranged letter for the Chronicle will, like their other misleading tactics, fall flat.

How many people attended the Thorley campaign session last night - 11?

How many attended the No case rally at the Empire Theatre - over 900.

Interesting indicator of feeling in the community.

One question remains - who's paying for the teachers' letter - is it coming out of the Yes campaign's ratepayer funded $460,000 - that hardly seems fair ...

Deputy Mayor Ramia to opt for bore water ...

... for his ice business.

Comments in today's Courier Mail by the owner of the buisness next door to Mr Ramia's Toowoomba Ice Works:

Mr Bou-Samra has pre-arranged with the neighbouring business, Toowoomba Ice Works, to have the option of a supply of bore water if it is cheaper than town water.

Although the ice works is owned by council water chairman and Deputy Mayor Joe Ramia, the water debate has not strained their friendship.

Source - Courier Mail - Technology slashes water bill.


So Mr Ramia has quietly gone for the option of bore water for his ice works, so that he will not need to use Toowoomba's recycled sewage water.

Seems he has NOT told the public this.

We should drink it, but he's not going to use it in his business ...

The No case tip No vote win on Saturday ...

Excerpt from the Courier Mail (annotated):

Objectors tip no vote win

27 July 2006

Opponents of Toowoomba City Council's plan to turn recycled sewage into drinking water are predicting a resounding win at Saturday's referendum.

The poll will determine whether treated wastewater makes up 25 per cent of drinking supplies in Toowoomba, which has been on water restrictions for a decade.

Similar schemes operate around the world, including Orange County, California.

[Similar schemes? NO other city in the world asks its residents to drink 25% recycled sewage - Toowoomba would be the first.]

Mayor Dianne Thorley, who is leading the "yes" campaign, said the weekend referendum result would be "lineball".

But Rosemary Morley, co-ordinator of Citizens Against Drinking Sewage, said Toowoomba residents did not want to be "lab rats for the rest of Australia". "I'm very confident it will be a no vote," she said.

Ms Morley said only 25 per cent of residents supported the proposal.

"When we can't get the evidence other than the council saying 'scientists say it's safe', ... there's no way in the world we're going to say yes to it," she said.

Source - Courier Mail - Objectors tip no vote win.

Toilet-to-tap poll ...

Premier Beattie is having an each way bet.

He's building dams but if the Yes vote should win, suddenly his Armageddon solution for Brisbane will become his first choice.

Politics!

An except from the Courier Mail:

Toilet-to-tap poll

By Steven Wardill

July 27, 2006

QUEENSLAND voters appear headed for an early election with the main issue being the proposal to add recycled sewage to the southeast's dwindling water supplies.

Premier Peter Beattie yesterday said he might seek an election mandate from voters to add recycled water into the region's major dams.

Mr Beattie will use this weekend's referendum on recycled sewage in Toowoomba as a touchstone towards community attitudes to the controversial water proposal.

Admitting he was an avid supporter of drinking recycled sewage, Mr Beattie said he would seek Queensland's support either through a state election or linking a vote to the 2008 council elections.

The mandate declaration put the Opposition on an instant election footing, with deputy leader Jeff Seeney advising his opposition to the proposal.

Source - Courier Mail - Toilet-to-Tap poll.

Toowoomba residents set to vote on purified sewage plan ...

From ABC's AM program:

Toowoomba residents set to vote on purified sewage plan

26 July 2006

TONY EASTLEY: One of the websites advertising Toowoomba says it's set in a region of romance, flowers, wineries, and stately homes.And after this weekend it could add another description which will be an Australian first.Residents are about to vote on whether to allow purified sewage to be pumped into their dams, and then into their drinking water.

As pre-polling gets underway, everyone agrees the issue has divided the town.

Lisa Millar reports from Toowoomba.

MAN: Are you voting today?

LISA MILLAR: It's an election like no other.

WOMAN: Good afternoon, sir. Are you voting today?

VOTER 1: I am.

LISA MILLAR: Polling booths opened early, and there was no shortage of opinion.

VOTER 2: It forced the people to drink toilet water. Doesn't matter if the water is safe, it's coming from toilet, and people don't want that. That's all.

VOTER 3: Well, I mean, nobody wants to drink sewage. The fact that we're not going to drink sewage is sort of irrelevant to that. I mean, it's easy to appeal to prejudice.

LISA MILLAR: It's a radical plan. If the drought-stricken Darling Downs city of Toowoomba votes yes on Saturday it will become the first city in Australia to pipe treated sewage water directly into its supply of drinking water.

DI THORLEY: I'm sure there's people out there that would absolutely hate me for what's going on.

LISA MILLAR: It's been a fierce at times dirty election campaign, but the Mayor Di Thorley believes a yes vote is the city's only hope.

DI THORLEY: Oh, I think Toowoomba is as ready as anywhere else in Australia. I mean, I believe communities all over the world are looking at what they're going to have to do, because we're seeing a global change. This doesn't just apply to Toowoomba.

LISA MILLAR: That's where the two sides agree. Snow Manners, who's spearheading the no vote, admits there's more than Toowoomba's water supply at stake.

SNOW MANNERS: This is the crossroads of the potable reuse debate Australia-wide, and it has been so mismanaged by Mayor Thorley.

LISA MILLAR: Is that what you sense, that it is a crossroads, that this decision is going to be watched by councils all around Australia?

SNOW MANNERS: This is not only all around Australia, this is all around the world. There is no community on this planet that deliberately sources its drinking water from a sewage treatment plant, and therefore it's a new technology, it's an experiment, and Toowoomba is the guinea pig.

LISA MILLAR: Goulburn's council in New South Wales is considering a similar plan, and it's acutely aware of the controversy raging further north.

LOCAL: This is the nicest one. Last time I got fooled …

LISA MILLAR: Toowoomba's council has tried to win over locals, offering taste tests of the final product.But it won't convince residents like Kay Hartmann, who don't think the water's safe.

KAY HARTMANN: I've never been involved in anything that has been as serious as this, ever.

LISA MILLAR: What do you think it's done to the town?

KAY HARTMANN: Divided the town. Why weren't we told the truth from the beginning?

LISA MILLAR: Her neighbour, Nancy Bell, is already thinking about leaving.

NANCY BELL: They'll lose a lot of citizens, and I am one that is definitely going to leave if recycled water comes in, 'cause I just could not live with it.

LISA MILLAR: It's enough to make you pack up and leave.

NANCY BELL: It is enough to make me pack up and leave. I came from the north coast, and I think I'll probably go back there.

LISA MILLAR: But whatever the result, Toowoomba - like many other cities and towns around Australia - is facing a growing crisis.

DI THORLEY: Everybody is going to have to look at water differently, and I don't think we can wait until there's nothing left before we start to look at what we're going to do.

TONY EASTLEY: Toowoomba Mayor Di Thorley ending that report from Lisa Millar.

Source - ABC News - Toowoomba residents set to vote on purified sewage plan.


Hopefully on 30 July, the other options will be considered ...

The biggest reason yet to vote NO ...

From the Chronicle:

Water portfolio chair Joe Ramia threatened to resign from his position if the No vote won on Saturday.

Source - Chronicle - Mavericks against accepting letters offering money back.

Vote NO to get rid of Joe ...

Being Deputy Mayor means never having to say you're sorry ...

Deputy Mayor 'shoot from the hip' Joe Ramia tries to defend leaving threatening messages on an opponent's answering machine.

It's rather like trying to defend the indefensible.

And is there an apology? No way. Not from the Deputy Mayor.

Hopefully, he (and the other Councillors) will say sorry to the Toowoomba public after Saturday.


From the Chronicle:

Deputy mayor defends angry message to Morley

26 July 2006

By Sarah Vogler

IT'S becoming very personal in the lead-up to Toowoomba's landmark Water Futures poll on Saturday.

Yesterday it was the deputy mayor in the firing line for comments he left on Citizens Against Drinking Sewage (CADS) co-ordinator Rosemary Morley's answering machine.

But Cr Joe Ramia's outburst had nothing to do with the water debate and everything to do with his family, he said.

Towards the end of last year Cr Ramia left an answering message which told Mrs Morley she and fellow anti-Water Futures campaigner Snow Manners were going to be in for a very, very rough ride.

"It's OK to sit in the back and throw rocks, Rosemary, but one of these days one of these big rocks are going to land on you and squash you and that other mate of yours on the blog site", he said on the answering machine last year.

Cr Ramia was under the impression Mrs Morley was responsible for comments questioning the professional integrity of one of his daughters-in-law.

A blog site carried comment about the woman; comments he said were devastating for his family – so he went on the attack.

Cr Ramia said he received an e-mail with Mrs Morley's name at the top that detailed the remarks, so he was led to believe she was behind them.

But Mrs Morley said that was no excuse for the venomous way the deputy mayor reacted, which she said still shook her to this day.

She said she had nothing to do with the comments which had left her severely depressed.

"To think a city official would leave a message like that ... he took all his venom out," Mrs Morley said.

"At the time I received that message I knew nothing about it (the comments). In the heat of anger people do things, but in the cold hard light the next morning ... he should have rang and said 'I'm sorry' ... and that would have been the end of it."

Cr Ramia said yesterday he understood Mrs Morley found the message distressing, but he did not regret it.

"I was protecting my family," he said.

"In the heat of the moment ... hey, do I regret saying it? No I don't because they attacked my family.

"My family doesn't come into this – keep them out of it."

Cr Ramia questioned why Mrs Morley would choose to talk about the incident yesterday – four days before the Water Futures poll - and not when the message was first left, about nine months ago.

She said she was initially reluctant to bring it back up again, but it was comments made by Mayor Dianne Thorley in The Chronicle on Tuesday that spurred her on.

"The Mayor has now come out in the media and made this a personal thing," Mrs Morley said.

Source - Chronicle - Being DeputyMayor means never having to say you're sorry.


Unbelievable conduct (and no apology) from the man who would have you drink recycled sewage ...

Mayor Thorley's crazy scheme makes it to jokeable.com ...

See - Town running out of drinking water, considers treated sewage.

If you're going to lose, taint the process ...

In a clear sign that you can beat an old story to death, the Courier Mail today reports on the claims of push polling in the Toowoomba referendum (See - Council tries to taint poll it expects to lose).

The article conveniently fails to discuss all the threats, scare tactics and misleading comments by Mayor Thorley and her merry band of Yes supporters.

Could it be that Mayor Thorley expects to lose the vote on Saturday so is trying to taint the poll ahead of time?

Will she comment after the poll that 'we could have won but for those terrible people push polling' or something similar?

Interestingly, a LGAQ representative has referred the matter to the CMC. Wth all the matters on their desk relating to the Water Futures project, they may need to change the initials to TCMC or WFCMC ...

Australian town may recycle sewage ...

Comments from the AFP article now on the Discovery Channel:

"Nowhere else in the world deliberately drinks water reclaimed from sewage to the degree proposed by Toowoomba," the No campaign website says. "Any water supply for over 100,000 people should use tried and proven methods. We are not guinea pigs."

Source - Discovery Channel - Australian town may recycle sewage.

Power station's dam water use 'scandalous' ...

From ABC News:

Power station's dam water use 'scandalous'

25 July 2006

The Queensland Opposition Leader says it is scandalous that Swanbank power station will be drawing more water from Brisbane's main dam.

The power station has always used water from Wivenhoe Dam but it also drew from the Moogerah Dam near Boonah.

But Moogerah Dam levels are now too low meaning the power station will take another 1,050 megalitres from Wivenhoe.

Lawrence Springborg says a recycled water pipeline should already be up and running to free up drinking water.

"This is absolutely nonsensical but it was completely avoidable," he said.

"That's why the Coalition actually started to build for the future of Queensland some eight years ago by moving towards some investment in a recycled water pipeline which would have been built four years ago and not in four years' time."

Energy Minister John Mickel says the power station has not exceeded its allocation.

"Swanbank through CS Energy has put in place water saving strategies that over the last five years has seen its water intake reduced by over 20 per cent," he said.

"Swanbank at the moment is using far less than the amount of water allocated to it."

Source - ABC News - Power station still drawing dam water.

Public comment sought on Great Artesian Basin draft plan ...

From ABC News:

Public comment sought on Great Artesian Basin draft plan

25 July 2006

The Queensland Government has released a draft water operations plan covering the Great Artesian Basin.

The basin underlies about 20 per cent of Australia.

In Queensland, it stretches from Toowoomba in the south, west to Birdsville and Boulia and into Cape York in the far north.

Randall Cox from the Department of Natural Resources says the plan has been released for public comment, but it is vital the resource is managed carefully.

"Well, the Great Artesian Basin contains a lot of water, but the amount that can be taken out on a sustainable basis is not that large and ... it's an important resource for western communities and it's the only resource available to many people," he said.

"So we do have to manage it in a sustainable way."

Source - ABC News - Public comment sought on Great Artesian Basin draft plan.

Mayor Thorley gets it wrong again ..

... repeats the tired rhetoric about Dalby and Chinchilla yet again.

Read the full 60 minutes transcript - Mayor Thorley has never heard of gas water.

Toowoomba hospital to sink bore ...

... but it doesn't mean that they won't take the city's recycled sewage.

From the Courier Mail (annotated):

No exemption for hospital

by Brendan O'Malley

25 July 2006

Hospital patients would not be exempted from a Toowoomba City Council plan to recycle purified water from the city's sewage treatment plant, Queensland Health confirmed yesterday.

Toowoomba Hospital formally announced on Saturday that it wanted to drill a large on-site bore which would deliver 80 million litres of water a year.

But Toowoomba Health Service district manager Chris Thorburn said that did not mean the hospital would refuse recycled water.

"Toowoomba Hospital will continue to always use water supplied by Toowoomba City Council," he said.

"The bore has been inactive for some time and the district is having assessments undertaken to determine if it can be brought back into use to supplement the water obtained from the Toowoomba City Council water supply."

[Interesting timing for bringing the bore back on line. Water Futures is supposed to provide more than enough recycled water for everyone in Toowoomba. Why then sink a bore? Unless you don't trust the water.]

Meanwhile, the Urban Development Institute of Australia has warned Toowoomba residents that a "no" vote in Saturday's referendum on recycling will push up the cost of housing.

UDIA regional president Ron Barclay said the organisation strongly supported the poll because it would conclusively reveal what the majority of ratepayers wanted.

But residents should be aware that the Water Futures recycling project was the most affordable water supply for the city, based on council and State Government costings.

[Note: none of the 'independent' reports of the Council or the State government have examined the costs of the Water Futures project itself. They all assume Acland Coal will take the water - they are "cool on the idea'. Without them, the project cost doubles.]

"If another and more expensive alternative needs to be implemented we see the additional costs to the ratepayer, either by way of rate increases or by reduction of services due to the costs of supporting increased TCC infrastructure borrowings, (will cause) a serious reduction in the affordability of home ownership to the Toowoomba residents," Mr Barclay said.

[With the true cost of the Water Futures project likely to be somewhere above $150 million, how much will rates skyrocket to pay for it?]

The UDIA released a study yesterday which showed government taxes and the property boom had already slashed affordability of homes during the past five years in Toowoomba and other parts of the state.

The UDIA believed a "no" vote would add to those costs, while a "yes" vote would not harm business opportunities despite claims food manufacturers would leave Toowoomba due to concerns about the health effects of recycled water.

[Why is Pixie Ice Cream applying to sink a bore?]

However, Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce president Ian Andersen said he feared the bad image of recycled water would drive away food manufacturers, which were among the biggest employers in the city.

Source - Courier Mail - Toowoomba hospital to sink bore.

Comments on the Toowoomba debate ...

From the Ballarat Courier:

Qld city to vote, our result: no

24 July 2006

Ballarat residents would reject the option of drinking recycled wastewater, according to a webpoll by The Courier.

Of 480 responses received so far, 64 per cent have voted no to a poll question asking residents if they would drink recycled wastewater that was mixed with Ballarat's drinking water.

Only 30.2 per cent of respondents answered yes. A further 5.8 per cent remained unsure.

The results come as Toowoomba residents prepare to vote this Saturday on a proposal to recycle 25 per cent of the city's drinking water.

The historic referendum, the first of its kind in the world, has created deep divisions in the inland Queensland city, according to Toowoomba Chronicle journalist Kathleen Donaghey.

"It has become really personal," Ms Donaghey said. "People here feel that they are guinea pigs for the rest of the world. It will be the first time in the world that a quarter of the drinking water would be deliberately recycled and the first time in the world that there has been a referendum on the issue."

Ms Donaghey said Toowoomba was heading towards level five water restrictions and was in a unique situation as it was located on top of a mountain.

"We can't just pump water from somewhere else. That's why recycling was put forward as an option," she said.

"It is very hard to predict how it will go. It is split down the middle," she said. "In the beginning I thought definitely `no', which is just like your poll in Ballarat is telling you, but since it was first announced council has held about 160 forums educating and providing information.

"If it is successful here, then Brisbane will probably follow and then the rest of Australia," Ms Donaghey said.

"Some say we are blazing trails, others say we will be the laughing stock of the country."

Source - Ballarat Courier - Qld city to vote, our result: no.

Another water debate site ...

See - poowoomba.com

And it did rain ...

The heavens opened over Toowoomba today with widespread rain and thunderstorms.

With more rain predicted for tomorrow, Mayor Thorley and her Yes team who have been praying for no rain before 29 July must be casting worrying eyes skywards ...

Mayor Thorley - they're saying things about me ...

From WIN News:

Water Myths

24 July 2006

Mayor reacts

With the Water Futures poll less than a week away, Mayor Di Thorley is hitting out at suggestions she's leaving Toowoomba after the vote and is also receiving bribes.

She says won't point the finger at anyone, but Councillor Lyle Shelton says if she's prepared to deny the rumours the Mayor should also identify where they're coming from.

Source - WIN News - How long will Thorley stay around.


Over the past few months, there has been the odd whisper about Mayor Thorley's next move - southern States and towns outside Toowoomba have been mentioned.

Should the NO vote succeed on Saturday, Mayor Thorley would have no reason to quit Toowoomba.

Although there may be calls for her resignation, it seems unlikely the Council will be sacked (although individual Councillors may face investigation).

And she sits on a decent salary package until the next Council elections in 2008. It would also give her time to plan her next move.

There has also been the odd whisper of financial or other incentives to push ahead with the recycled sewage proposal. Nothing proven to date although it seems reasonable to wonder why she is so obsessed with her project and, for the past year, has in no way wanted to compromise in the face of growing community opposition to her plans ...

Mayor Thorley will give up on her recycled sewage dream ...

... if the NO vote succeeeds on Saturday.

Excerpt from the Courier Mail:

Sewage poll will count

By Amanda Gearing and Brendan O'Malley

24 July 2006

Toowoomba mayor Di Thorley yesterday ruled out forging ahead with a controversial plan to recycle purified sewage if the idea is voted down at a referendum on Saturday.

The council has scheduled calling tenders two days after the July 29 referendum on the $68 million-plus project, which involves pumping purified sewage from the Wetalla wastewater treatment plant into the city's main dam.

An email obtained by The Courier-Mail also showed the council had received advice from Local Government Minister Desley Boyle that there was no legal obligation for the council to take the referendum result into account.

The council said in its funding submission to the National Water Commission that although the cost burden on ratepayers would soar if the project did not get $23 million in federal funding, it was so important to the city it still needed to go ahead.

"If the submission is not successful, (Toowoomba City Council) believes the project must still go ahead, resulting in a very significant cost impost to be borne by TCC ratepayers," the funding application said.

But Cr Thorley ruled out pushing ahead regardless of Saturday's vote.

"No, that won't happen. The tenders (have been scheduled) contingent on a 'yes' vote," she said.

Full story - Sewage poll will count.

Seeing is believing ...

Premier Beattie considers mega-pipe project ...

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

Qld govt to study $7.5b water pipe plan

23 July 2006

The state government will look at building a $7.5 billion water pipeline from North Queensland to Brisbane in the next 50 to 100 years to cope with the future effects of climate change.

Emerging from a Cabinet meeting, Premier Peter Beattie said the government would conduct a feasibility study into building a 1,200km pipeline from Burdekin in the north to the state's water deprived south-east, incorporating existing regional pipelines and easements.

If the project gets the thumbs up, construction is expected to cost more than $7.5 billion and the running costs are likely to be more than $250 million a year.

Full story - Qld govt to study $7.5b water pipe plan.

Mayor Thorley's 'how to' book ...

Senator Bartlett starts a petition ...

In what may be part of a swansong from politics, Senator Bartlett has started a petition in favour of drinking recycled sewage - to be presented to the State government and local councils.

An excerpt (annotated):

Bartlett petitions for recycled water

By Rachael Langford

22 July 2006

Democrats Senator Andrew Bartlett has launched a petition calling for the use of recycled water in southeast Queensland.

The collected signatures will be presented to State Parliament and local councils, and will also offer support to residents in Toowoomba and the Mary Valley, Senator Bartlett said today.

[It won't be very supportive to Toowoomba residents if there is a resounding NO vote next Saturday.]

Five hundred residents face losing their homes if plans to build a dam on the Mary River, south of Gympie, go ahead.

[Senator Bartlett seems to think that the ONLY alternative to dams is making people drink recycled sewage. It's not.]

Meanwhile, Toowoomba residents will decide in a referendum on July 29 whether or not the rural city will accept recycled water.

Senator Bartlett says there's a lot less resistance to recycled water in the southeast Queensland community than the politicians assume.

[Senator Bartlett obviously hasn't seen the polling done by Premier Beattie on exactly this point.]

Source- The Australian - Bartlett petitions for recycled water.


He's running out of time to collect signatures before the Toowoomba referendum next Saturday.

The last time a pro-drinking recycled sewage petition was announced (by the former Pure H20), it imploded spectacularly without the signed petition ever seeing the light of day.

Perhaps Senator Bartlett should speak to CADS - they have over 10,000 signatures on their petition - but wait, their petition is against putting recycled sewage into the drinking water system ...

Toowoomba makes the Canberra Times ...

An excerpt:

Rural councils are already recycling sewage and stormwater to irrigate farms and flush toilets. Shoalhaven City Council recycles 80 per cent of the region's wastewater, providing enough reclaimed water to irrigate 14 dairy farms, two golf courses and sporting fields.

But some cities are more squeamish. Toowoomba City Council is struggling to convince its 90,000 residents that urban wastewater can be reused, and has spent $500,000 on a campaign to win support for urban water recycling.

Former mayor Clive Berghoffer says property prices will plummet if the scheme goes ahead.

"We had the image of a garden city here with a carnival of flowers," he says. "Now it being called 'Poowoomba' and that's not good for our image."

Source - Canberra Times - Battle lines drawn in contest to conserve our liquid assets.

Countdown to Water Futures vote ...

From the Chronicle:

Countdown to Water Futures Vote Begins

22 July 2006

By Natalie Gauld

NO Case Committee member Rosemary Morley is hardly off the phone these days.

Mrs Morley says there has been a huge groundswell of support since Clive Berghofer's No Case advertising supplement appeared inside The Chronicle and letterboxes this week.

"Since Clive's publication, there has been a huge amount of new people contacting us who are angry and upset," she said.

"They are getting legitimate information and now deciding which way they are going to vote.

"It's like a light has been shone on them.

"A lot of young people with families have contacted Clive and myself.

"It has become a matter of trust."

Mrs Morley said the No Case options would be explained for the final time on Wednesday, July 26, at a free public meeting at the Empire Theatre at 7pm.

"This is the last night for us. We will be putting experts and guest speakers up on the stage," she said.

"There will be a roving microphone so people can ask questions."

The three no councillors, Lyle Shelton, Keith Beer and Graham Barron, will address the meeting.

Mrs Morley, who is the Citizens Against Drinking Sewage co-ordinator, said about 1000 people had attended two CADS meetings in the past.

With one week to go until the water poll, the Toowoomba City Council is giving residents three more opportunities to find out more about the Water Futures proposal.

There will be a forum today at 10am in the Mayes Room, City Hall.

Manager of laboratory services Alan Kleinschmidt and director engineering services Kevin Flanagan will attend the forums.

There will be two forums on Wednesday, July 26, at 10am and 7pm at the same venue.

Source - Chronicle - Countdown to the vote.

Crunch time for recycling ...

From the Courier Mail

Crunch time for recycling

By Brendan O'Malley

22 July 2006

Toowoomba's costly referendum on water recycling could be the last time the issue of reusing purified sewage for drinking water is put to the people.

A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister's parliamentary secretary for water, Malcolm Turnbull, said the July 29 referendum was called in response to "special circumstances".

While referenda could not be ruled out in other towns considering recycling treated sewage for drinking, such as Goulburn in NSW, the Toowoomba vote was needed because of the well-organised opposition to recycling.

"There were special circumstances leading to the need for a referendum in Toowoomba's case," the spokeswoman said.

"A concerted no campaign had gained momentum and the Commonwealth did not believe it would be possible to determine community support unless the matter was put to a referendum."

The Toowoomba poll will end up costing more than $600,000, including $460,000 of ratepayers' money for a public education campaign for the yes case.

Mr Turnbull was believed to be considering a request from Toowoomba Mayor Di Thorley to allow the council to pay for the education campaign using part of a $23 million Commonwealth grant for the recycling project.

The council denied it had paid its staff to hand out how-to-vote leaflets outside the pre-polling office at City Hall.

But Lyle Shelton, one of three councillors opposed to recycling, said catering staff had been used to hand out coffee, pizzas and other free food at education functions.

"They have also been offering free tickets to Pirates of the Caribbean if people turn up to their education sessions, which makes you wonder if that is an improper inducement," he said.

Cr Shelton said a council internal email revealed it would organise accommodation for anyone who travelled to Toowoomba to hand out yes case material.

The Queensland Greens planned to bus in supporters on July 29 to help the yes case.

"That just shows there is so little backing for the council that they have to get extremists or people from outside town," Cr Shelton said.

Source - Courier Mail - Crunch time for recycling.

Searching out the truth ...

Cooby Dam - living laboratory or sporting venue ...

Toowoomba City Council now claims it won't close off Cooby Dam to recreational use.

Source - WIN News - We'll still let you use Cooby.

Council's NWC funding application refers to Cooby being used as a "living laboratory".

Council cited the Water Futures project as one reason it would not extend Cooby Dam use rights to any purchaser of Toowoomba Grammar's Abingdon property fronting Cooby Dam (See - Toowoomba Grammer dumps Cooby Dam property).

So which is it?

It sounds more like a last minute effort to save the Cooby Dam recreational user vote.

Just don't expect Cooby Dam to be available if the Water Futures project proceeds.

It's a question of trust - and Council's past conduct points to Cooby Dam being off limits for recreational users ...

Commerce Qld - Council risks funding ...

Comments on WIN News by Commerce Qld.

An excerpt:

COMMERCE WATER PLAN B

21 July 2006

Council risking future funding

Commerce Queensland says Toowoomba City Council is risking future funding for alternative water projects, because it is refusing to nominate a 'plan B' if voters reject its recycling proposal.

The group's regional chairman says council needs to look urgently at the eligibility of other options.

Source - WIN News - Council risking future funding.

More blow-ins ...

This time it's the group opposing the Mary River dam and the Greens trying to coerce Toowoomba residents into voting Yes on 29 July.

Source - WIN News - Blow-ins to try to drum up some votes.

Probably the simplest response (read elsewhere) is to ask them whether they live in Toowoomba.

They don't - so why would you listen to their views on whether people in Toowoomba want to drink recycled sewage ...

60 Minutes on the Toowoomba water debate ...

A preview - 60 Minutes online.

There's no polite way to say this, so we'll be blunt about it.

How would you go drinking your own waste, drinking re-cycled sewage?

Don't laugh, it's a prospect we could all be facing in the very near future. For the people of Toowoomba out on the Darling Downs, that fateful day's already here.

Like much of this country, Queensland's garden city is dying of thirst. And the mayor says the only solution is to turn the town's toilet water into tap water.

Radical, sure, but you'd think the locals would all go along with it.

No way.

There's a referendum next Saturday and it's torn the town apart.

Full program - Sunday 23 July.

Drink it or be damned - Federal MP tells Toowoomba ...

... but my electorate in Sydney won't have to.

An extraordinary day in the Toowoomba water debate, highlighted by an almighty dummy spit from a Federal MP.

A politician who refuses to speak to voters who will be affected by his decisions and takes steps to ensure he is not contacted again.

Extraordinary and quite damaging to the Federal Liberal Party.

An excerpt from The Australian:

Recycle or you're on your own: MP

By Selina Mitchell

21 July 2006

The Howard Government has been accused of blackmailing the residents of a drought-ravaged Queensland town into supporting the recycling of effluent for drinking water.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Water, Malcolm Turnbull, has warned the people of Toowoomba that if they overwhelmingly vote no in a referendum next week on recycling effluent, they will not get a cent of federal money to help solve the town's water woes.

The federal Government has promised to provide $23 million towards a $68 million Toowoomba water-recycling plant to treat effluent to drinking standards - but only if the local community provides its majority support.

The city will vote on July 29 on the council plan to source 25 per cent of its drinking water from recycled sewage.

"The only safe assumption is that there will be no federal funding for alternative projects," Mr Turnbull said yesterday.

"They would be free to apply, but based on the information we have on other options to date, they wouldn't meet the funding requirements - they are not viable."

Millionaire businessman and former mayor Clive Berghofer, who is leading the no campaign, accused Mr Turnbull of blackmail.

Mr Berghofer said Toowoomba was a guinea pig for a water treatment process that had not been trialled anywhere else in the world.

He said alternative options, such as piping in water from bore licence holders or sourcing water from the production of coal seam gas, were not as expensive as independent reports had suggested they were.

Source - The Australian - Recycle or you're on your own: MP.


And this is what Federal Minister (and Member for Groom) Macfarlane said (Chronicle 15 July 2006):

If the July poll came out in favour of the "No" case, Mr Macfarlane said it would fall to council to choose another option of which there were "plenty".

"They may or may not be expensive depending on which one they go for, and they may or may not be innovative enough that they will garner Federal Government support," Mr Macfarlane said.

"But if there is another application and it fits within the (National Water Commission) guidelines it will certainly have my whole-hearted support and I’d be pretty confident I could get some money for it."


So you have Mr Turnbull and Mayor Thorley maintaining their rather tired line that there are no other options and, even if there were, they'd be no Federal government funding.

And you have Mr Macfarlane saying there ARE other options and there's a good chance of Federal government funding.

And then you have the State opposition saying that no Federal government funding is even required for some of their options.

Interesting ...

Toilet to tap plan gets flushed again ...

More press on San Diego and their Mayor's resistance to any attempts to introduce recycled sewage for drinking.

An excerpt:

To seriously consider reservoir augmentation, San Diego would need assurance from a long-term health study of people who drink super-treated wastewater, said former Councilman Bruce Henderson. Short of that, he said, the proposal is a “health experiment” on hundreds of thousands of residents.

Source - Signs on San Diego - Sanders against sending treated wastewater to tap.

Mayor Thorley must be cringing that these comments are being aired right now.

Coincidence? Perhaps ...

The truth Mayor Thorley cannot contradict ...

It's something that troubles the Yes team.

They know it's losing them votes.

And yet there's not much they can do about it.

Mayor Thorley's recycled sewage scheme involves pumping 25% recycled sewage into our drinking water supply.

That's ONE-QUARTER of the water we will consume.

Singapore, one of the Mayor's favourite examples, uses only 1%.

So Toowoomba is being asked to accept something that is 25 TIMES the level of recycled sewage used in Singapore.

Even Toowoomba City Council's own advisers, CH2M Hill, said in their report which formed part of the Council's NWC funding application, that 25% was high by international standards.

Mayor Thorley has at NO time explained why Toowoomba residents need to drink recycled sewage at rates which are 25 times the rate used in Singapore.

She has NEVER explained why Toowoomba has to be the experiment for the world at these levels.

It's costing them votes and they know it ...

Mayor Thorley commissions yet another report ...

... to tell her what she wants to hear.

She's getting desperate!

From ABC News (annotated):

Mayor says report vindicates water futures support

20 July 2006

The Toowoomba Mayor, in south-eastern Queensland, says the release of another independent report proves the council's water recycling project is the right option for the city.

The council-commissioned report has found residents will have to pay more for their water regardless of which option is chosen to drought-proof the city.

[It's a pity that Mayor Thorley's recycled sewage project won't actually drought-proof Toowoomba.]

The water futures project would cost ratepayers an extra $40 a year, while piping water from coal seam gas mines will cost an extra $580 a year.

[And how much will it cost ratepayers if water comes from the Norwin irrigators?]

Di Thorley says the report vindicates her staff who have been attacked for supporting the water futures project.

Meanwhile, the Coalition candidate for Toowoomba North, Lyle Shelton, says the city council is using the cost of other water options to scare voters into ticking yes in the Water Futures vote.

Mr Shelton says other towns and cities are solving their water shortage problems without resorting to recycling effluent for drinking supplies.

"The only way to get people to accept that we should drink recycled sewerage water is to convince people that there are no other options - that is completely untrue, there are other options, they are affordable and if there were no other options for Toowoomba there would be no other option for Brisbane, which is spending billions making sure its community doesn't drink recycled sewerage water," he said.

Source - ABC News - Mayor Thorley will need another report!


One of the problems with Mayor Thorley's so called 'independent' reports which she keeps commissioning at ratepayers' expense is that none of them review the actual costs of the Water Futures project.

None of her reports tell the truth - that Acland Coal is highly unlikely to take the Reverse Osmosis waste stream from her recycled sewage plant. The evaporation ponds that would be required for storage of the waste will DOUBLE the project's costs.

But she won't tell you that. Nor will her reports.

Why is that?

Mayor Thorley, you can spend the rest of our $465,000 on your reports.

It won't change the fact that Toowoomba voters just don't TRUST you ...

Deputy Mayor Ramia feels the heat ...

Almost one year into their scare campaign of Toowoomba residents, Toowoomba City Council's Deputy Mayor Joe Ramia is worried.

Has the scare campaign backfired on them?

He is quoted in today's Chronicle as saying:

"There are people out there petrified that we are going to run out of water and that's what we are trying to avoid," Cr Ramia said.

See - Chronicle - Tempers wear thin.

Well, Mr Ramia, it is your Council and your Water Futures team who have been spreading these rumours:

"There are no other options"

"There is no Plan B"

"We'll run out of water by Christmas"

"A No vote means no water".

What did you think some of the people would think?

In the face of the misleading and deceptive conduct by Mayor Thorley and Toowoomba City Council, it has been the calming voice of others in this debate who have assured people that the State and Federal governments will not let Toowoomba run out of water.

Are things not working out as you planned?

Is your polling showing that voters prefer real solutions now that the Water Futures project has been shown as not providing water in the short-term or the long-term and not providing sufficient water at any time?

Just where will the RO waste stream go and how much extra will it cost Toowoomba's ratepayers when you can't get Acland Coal to accept it?

Deputy Mayor Ramia is also quoted as saying:

"I'm sick of the nonsense and garbage – and the misinformation that's out there."

Well, so are we!

On 29 July, you will find out just how damaging your conduct has been to the Water Futures campaign ...

Meanwhile, Virginia plans recycled water for non-potable use ...

Remember that other recycled sewage example used by Mayor Thorley?

Virginia USA.

Seems they are finally getting their act together to recycle sewage for non-potable use.

But isn't this the US state that Mayor Thorley said was a wonderful example of drinking recycled sewage?

Seem that's not the way they wish to go now.

An excerpt:

Virginia drafting regulations for recycling water

16 July 2006

RICHMOND, Va. Virginia is preparing to launch a program to recycle water that would be used to irrigate parks, lawns and crops; cool industrial equipment; wash cars and streets; and flush toilets.

The state is drafting water-reuse regulations after consulting with engineers, health experts, environmentalists and golf-course superintendents.

According to the Department of Environmental Quality, the draft regulations are expected to be considered in December, with a permit system in place as early as next spring.

Under the system, sewage plants would remove pathogens and other health risks from tainted wastewater. The recycled water would be piped to industries, farms, golf courses, local governments and other customers for a fee.

They would NOT use the water for drinking or cooking.

Officials at D-E-Q say recycled water would cost less than drinking water, and less water would have to be withdrawn from lakes, rivers and wells -- thus conserving these raw supplies and better protecting the state from drought.

In addition, sewage plants would discharge less wastewater into public waterways.

See - Virginia drafting regulations for recycling water.

See also - Put to good reuse: State closing in on water recycling program.


So Namibia is moving towards desalination. Virginia wants to use recycled sewage for non-drinking purposes. And Singapore recycles at only 1% and has opened Asia largest desalination plant.

Mayor Thorley is fast running out of examples ...

Mayor says NO to drinking recycled sewage ...

Toowoomba?

No, San Diego.

Where a previous toilet-to-tap planned was shelved in 1999.

The plan has been raised again with San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders saying he won't support a plan to turn wastewater into drinking water.

An excerpt:

Sanders Wants to Flush Water Reclamation Plans

By Sam Hodgson

19 July 2006

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders won't support a plan to turn wastewater into drinking water, giving a political boost to opponents of a city effort to feed its water reservoirs with filtered, treated sewage.

Sanders’ decision is the latest move in a decade-long battle over plans to reclaim flushed sewage as potable water.

Proponents say it is safe way for the city to lesser its reliance on outside water sources.

But critics deride it as a "toilet-to-tap" treatment that threatens public health.

City staffers have been examining the controversial issue for more than a year, studying its safety and financial feasibility. They've produced a lengthy report that summarizes six proposals to diversify the city's water supply.

Four include plans to turn sewage into drinking water -a concept that sputtered out once in San Diego in the 1990s. The study heads to the City Council's Natural Resources and Culture Committee July 26.

...

"This issue has come up previously before the council," Sainz said.

"In fact, it's come up on a number of occasions and the council received a very strong point of view from the public that they were unilaterally opposed to it.

“The mayor believes that this has been resolved, that this has been settled.”

...

But long-time opponent Bruce Henderson, a former City Councilman, said water reclamation is still a financially unsound concept that irresponsibly experiments with public health.

The cost of treating the water will be exorbitant, he said, affecting the poor, who will pay with both their health and their pocketbooks.

"Are we talking about economic racism?" Henderson said. "The answer is 'Of course we are.' They intend to be using this process and putting reclaimed toilet water into our drinking water. The affluent portion of our society, they can opt out of this health experiment. They can just drink bottled water."

He said it is simply a matter of public support.

Source - Voice of San Diego - Sanders Wants to Flush Water Reclamation Plans.

Bid to make Toowoomba drought proof ...

... Deputy Mayor Ramia says no thanks.

From ABC News:

Bid to make Toowoomba drought proof

19 July 2006

Irrigators west of Toowoomba on the Darling Downs in Queensland have tabled a new bid to drought-proof the garden city.

The Nuwater group originally proposed piping bore water to Toowoomba in return for recycled effluent for farming, but that has been rejected by the council.

Nuwater chief executive John McVeigh says they are now proposing to sell up to 5,000 megalitres of water to the city each year and they will not ask for anything in return.

He says it would cost only $40 million to set up and would be available almost immediately.

"We're not interested in the politics or the personalities in this debate. We're simply saying that as residents of the Darling Downs community, we're more than happy in response to community requests to put this proposal forward," he said.

"The proposal exists now and it exists in the future if the community of Toowoomba wants to look at it."

Toowoomba City Council's Joe Ramia says Nuwater's proposal is unsustainable.

Councillor Ramia says he believes water drawn from a catchment needs to be used in the same catchment.

"Some government policy would need to come into this because there would have to be a change in policy in transferring water from one area to another," he said.

Source - ABC News - Bid to make Toowoomba drought proof.

See also - WIN News - Norwin irrigators won't let water lease option dry up.


Prime Minister Howard has just made a speech saying that the States need to engage in more water trading. Encouraging water trading is also a core mission of the National Water Commission.

And what does Toowoomba's Deputy Mayor say?

"Water drawn from a catchment should stay in the catchment" and "there would need to be a change in policy".

Toowoomba City Council once again casually dismisses a viable option just because they don't like it. Meanwhile, the Federal government will continue to promote water trading throughout Australia.

The approach of the Toowoomba City Council makes no sense - until you consider that they will do anything and say anything to force Toowoomba residents to drink recycled sewage.

Until 29 July that is.

You will be amazed how many other options suddenly become viable if the majority of Toowoomba voters vote No on polling day ...

Firefighters won't use it but we're supposed to drink it ...

BlueScope rejects fire water plan

By Megan Levy

19 July 2006

Firefighters have called on BlueScope Steel to install a separate freshwater system for firefighting, as the stoush over the use of recycled water continues.

The NSW Fire Brigade Employees Union has called on the industry giant to spend part of its profits on building separate systems to deliver recycled water and potable, or drinking, water to the steelworks.

In the event of an emergency, firefighters - who believe the recycled water could pose a health risk - could use drinking water.

However BlueScope Steel says the suggestion to duplicate water systems is "totally impractical". In any case, the recycled water had undergone rigorous testing which showed it was suitable for firefighting.

The union banned its members from using recycled water across NSW in 2003 except to protect life, and only then as a last resort.

Source - Illawarra Mercury - BlueScope rejects fire water plan.

Beattie commits $80m to Coast desalination plant ...

An excerpt:

19 July 2006

Premier Peter Beattie today announced a further $80 million to help south-east Queensland in the fight against drought and climate change, with the funding to help bring forward "early works" on the proposed new desalination plant at Tugun on the Gold Coast.

He says the funding is contingent on the Gold Coast City Council contributing a further $20 million to the plant, which could potentially deliver an additional 125 megalitres of water a day to the south east.

Read the full article - Qld Business Review - Beattie commits $80m to Coast desalination plant.

Townsville buys back recycled water ...

... but not for drinking.

From ABC News:

Council agrees to buy recycled water for irrigation

19 July 2006

Townsville City Council has agreed to buy back recycled water not used by industry from the proposed Cleveland Bay Water Carbon Neutral Recycling Project to use for irrigation on gardens.

Townsville Mayor Tony Mooney says it makes sense to look to recycled water for irrigation.

Councillor Mooney says every drop of water spared from the Ross River Dam is precious.

"I've always said that some of that recycled water should be used to irrigate sporting fields like at the Murray sporting complex. We're currently using treated town water for that," he said.

"How dumb is it to suggest that we shouldn't be doing that?"

Councillor David Crisafulli says that ratepayers will be the ones to suffer from the arrangement.

"I want to fight this tooth and nail because there's no way we should be telling ratepayers, 'look, we could be buying water at X dollars but we're going to pay twice as much just to save some political face'," he said.

Source - ABC News - Council agrees to buy recycled water for irrigation.

Council's 'yes' campaign enters crucial phase ...

The No campaign newspaper ...

Clive Berghofer's newspaper is here.

The trust factor ...

Who do you believe?

Federal Parliamentary Secretary MP Malcolm Turnbull (and Member for Wentworth in Sydney) who says (quoted in Toowoomba City Council advertisement, Chronicle 15 July 2006):

"No vote, No funding".

Or

Federal Minister MP Ian Macfarlane (and Member for Groom) who said the following (Chronicle 15 July 2006):

If the July poll came out in favour of the "No" case, Mr Macfarlane said it would fall to council to choose another option of which there were "plenty".

"They may or may not be expensive depending on which one they go for, and they may or may not be innovative enough that they will garner Federal Government support," Mr Macfarlane said.

"But if there is another application and it fits within the (National Water Commission) guidelines it will certainly have my whole-hearted support and I’d be pretty confident I could get some money for it."


Which politician represents Toowoomba?

Which politician lives in Sydney and does not advocate recycled sewage for drinking for his electorate of Wentworth?

Which politician seems to be blackmailing Toowoomba into accepting a recycled sewage option he is not asking his own electorate to accept?

Just a thought ...

Sydney gets serious on water savings plans ...

See - SMH - Woks flicked in water blitz.

While the Qld State government is forced to admit that Tarong power station is still taking water from Wivenhoe dam (after being told to cease):

See - Courier Mail - Secret grab for water.

What water is Millmerran power station using?

The recycled water Toowoomba City Council says it is or has it never turned on the tap ...

Pass the Cabinet Sauvignon ...

Excerpts from a Reuters article written in 2002 about Singapore's NEWater project:

Flood of jokes greets Singapore water recycling plan

8 August 2002

SINGAPORE - Jokes are flowing thick and fast about Singapore's moves to recycle water from toilet bowls, the latest plan to reduce reliance on supplies from Malaysia.

The satirical Web site TalkingCock.com cut straight to the chase with "Singaporeans preparing to drink own pee".

Resource-parched Singapore countered by saying it would need less from Malaysia in future because it could fill some of its requirements by turning waste water into so-called "Newater".

TalkingCock, which means "spouting nonsense" in Singapore slang, had its own version of the government campaign to sell the idea of Newater to the city state's four million people.

"It's totally natural, like Evian, except that it doesn't come down from snowy alpine rivers but from your very own kidneys," it quoted a fictitious official telling sceptical residents of a housing estate.

...

Singapore now pays three Malaysian cents (less than one U.S. cent) for every thousand gallons of raw water piped in. Malaysia said last month it was ready to rework the pricing formula after a proposal to make the city state pay 100 times more by 2007 was rejected.

One joke e-mail doing the rounds envisions a novel solution to the long-standing tensions over water.

"In the landmark deal, Malaysia has agreed to divert its vast sewerage network across the peninsula into Singapore so that the island republic can have unlimited supply of human waste for recycling into Newater," it reads.

But TalkingCock said Temasek Holdings, Singapore's powerful state investment agency, had other plans - collecting the urine of high-ranking politicians to bottle and age like fine wine.

"We believe that the pee of our highly gifted leaders is not ordinary urine and should be treated as such," a fictitious official said.

"It's tentatively called Cabinet Sauvignon."

Source - Planet Ark - Flood of jokes greets Singapore water recycling plan.


Maybe calling it Thorley Water is not far off the mark ...

Toowoomba City Council's "take-no-prisoners" approach ...

Article on Goulburn in yesterdays' Sydney Morning Herald.

Some interesting comments on Mayor Thorley's "you can drink it or buy bottled water" approach to community engagement.

An excerpt:

Goulburn: leading Australia in water conservation or a toilet-to-tap town?

It all depends on how you look at it but for Goulburn Mulwaree Council, spin could play a big part in the success or failure of an ambitious $40 million plan to recycle the city's sewage.

The Mayor, Paul Stephenson, is acutely aware of the controversy swirling around Toowoomba and that council's take-no-prisoners approach to introducing recycled water to Queensland's garden city.

A ratepayer vote on Toowoomba's proposal on July 29 is tipped to be a close call, thanks to an anti-recycling campaign.

Goulburn has headed off that kind of opposition, according to Cr Stephenson, by investigating all options to boost the city's water supply - tapping into more bore water, raising dam walls and imposing water restrictions early. The council will also consult the community for 12 months on how to tackle the water shortage.

"Toowoomba's motto has been 'do it and defend it'," said Cr Stephenson. "That has not been our way."

However, forces are mustering to fight the council. Some local businessmen have set up a website, and there's talk of holding a public meeting, even of hiring a public relations consultant.

See - Next stop: the big water fight comes to town.


So Goulburn's Mayor is distancing himself from Mayor Thorley's "take no prisoners" approach, saying his council will investigate all options and consult the community.

How interesting ...