Senator Bartlett comes to sip ...
Senator Bartlett visits Toowoomba today to do a little NEWater sipping at Grand Central.
See - Senator Bartlett to sip NEWater.
With the visit originally planned to coincide with Mayor Thorley's now aborted Youth for Yes parade, the Senator will now spend 2 hours trying to convince Toowoomba residents to take one for the Australian water recycling cause - and vote Yes on 29 July.
Senator Bartlett seems to think that all be ok if you can just fix the 'yuck' factor.
This oversimplifies the Toowoomba debate as there are plenty of Toowoomba people who do not suffer the 'yuck' factor of recycled sewage but believe, based on real evidence, that there are better water source options and Toowoomba City Council has done its best over the past 10 or so months to mislead the community on these water source options.
Even if it was just the 'yuck' factor, a four week period until the Referendum on 29 July is insufficient time to convince sufficient voters to overcome this factor.
Senator Bartlett's visit is expected to be viewed by the now wary Toowoomba public as similar to that of MP Turnbull - another blow-in politician who will say 'drink it' and then leave the city.
For some reason, they don't seem to understand that this is actually counter-productive to the now really floundering Yes campaign ...
posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 7:57 AM
8 Comments:
I wonder if he will rag Clive?
11:48 AM, July 01, 2006
Unlikely. Senator Bartlett will stick to his thoughts on recycled water use. He does not however seem to appreciate that the Toowoomba debate is not as simple as you should drink recycled water and building dams is bad.
1:16 PM, July 01, 2006
Perhaps he should tell TCC to fit free tanks to citizens residences and stop wasting ratepayers money on the yes campaign.
2:03 PM, July 01, 2006
Rosemary Morley explained the YUCK factor and I think they need reminding of what it means to us.
Yet Unknown Kemicals! Poetic licence is use for Chemicals, but they got the message for a while and need to learn it again.
Don't go there as we have moved beyond this argument.
10:39 AM, July 02, 2006
I hope they are only sipping as our Health Dept says that it is not to be drunk by the bottle. One can only consume 20ml at a time.
We wanted to import it to sell , but it seems that's not on the cards due to the fact that it dose not comply to our health standards.
These bottles are not labled clearly.
Watch this space as there will be more said on this matter.
10:55 AM, July 02, 2006
From the Chronicle:
It's a taste of things to come
3 July 2006
The most frequent question asked of Queensland Democrat Senator Andrew Bartlett at Grand Central Shopping Centre on Saturday was 'what does a politician from Brisbane have to do with Toowoomba's water'?
"I can understand why this question was asked," Senator Bartlett said. "The answer is I think water recycling is the future."
"I am extremely keen for this approach to be adopted in South East Queensland and Brisbane."
Senator Bartlett spent two hours at Grand Central talking to shoppers about water recycling and the need for all of South East Queensland to be smarter with water.
"I believe Toowoomba is leading the country toward an independent, sustainable and environmentally sensible solution to climate change and water shortages," he said.
Senator Bartlett also spoke to people in the community who were unhappy with Toowoomba being the guinea pig for recycled drinking water.
He said the reason it was put forward was that Toowoomba City Council had the political courage to put it on the table.
"Toowoomba is showing true leadership in promoting this key solution to our water problems."
Senator Bartlett said if the water recycling plan succeeded here it would open a gateway for other cities to take it on board.
"If it doesn't succeed here it will take longer to be implemented," he said.
"But I believe it will still happen. It is an obvious solution to the water problems."
end.
At least he not arguing about Toowoomba being guinea pigs.
Isn't the more obvious solution to use recycled water for non-potable uses? Look at Dalby.
Ask people in Toowoomba if you think Mayor Thorley has shown true leadership and you might get a different response.
The 29 July Referendum is about the Thorley leadership - so we'll se what people think.
12:15 PM, July 03, 2006
And comments from ABC News:
Democrats Senator Andrew Bartlett says Queensland politicians have shown a lack of courage over Toowoomba's controversial water recycling plan.
...
"Just a total lack of political courage. Of course, there's understandable concern within the community and I'm not saying it's the solution to everything, but I really am very disappointed that political leaders as a whole have backed away from it predominantly because it's got some initial psychological resistance from people," he said.
end.
It's not just some initial psychological resistance.
It's a whole lot more than that.
1:17 PM, July 03, 2006
From WIN News
Bartlett Water Stand
Bartlett hopes to see SEQ embrace use of recycled water
Democrats Senator Andrew Bartlett says he hopes to see all of South East Queensland embracing the use of recycled water in drinking supplies.
He's adamant Toowoomba residents aren't being used as guinea pigs, but admits if they vote against the plan it will make it harder for the rest of the state to accept the recycling process.
end.
Sounds like guinea pigs to most people.
7:20 PM, July 03, 2006
Post a Comment
<< Home