Beattie's recycled water survey takes a battering ...

Excerpt from Sunshine Coast Daily:

So how many did they survey on recycling?

23 August 2007

A state government survey has found that three in four Queenslanders support drinking recycled sewage water – at least that’s what premier Peter Beattie told us yesterday.

Whether Queenslanders believe him is another matter.

We were told a year ago there would be a referendum on recycled water and if it was given the thumbs up, stage two of the Traveston dam would not be needed.

But after the election the referendum was off, Mr Beattie said recycling would proceed and stage two of the dam was still on the agenda.

The government was caught out misleading the Senate Inquiry earlier this year, claiming seven people had died between Gympie and Maryborough in the 1999 floods.

In fact the fatalities had included a boogie-boarder who was swept over a weir on the Caboolture River, a man trapped by rising floodwaters in the South Pine River at Albany Creek, and a Gold Coast man who had a heart attack while clearing weeds near a swollen dam in the Currumbin Valley.

And an investigation into an National Party MP’s online poll on the Traveston dam found votes had been cast by ministerial advisers prior to the deputy premier making a statement in Parliament about the results.

So when the Premier claimed there was overwhelming support for the addition of purified recycled water to drinking suppliesshould we take him at his word?

Yesterday Mr Beattie said a survey conducted by the Queensland Water Commission last month found nearly three quarters of respondents were in favour of the government’s recycling plan.

“The survey of 1000 south-east Queenslanders conducted during July has found that 74% support the addition of purified recycled water to ensure water security,” Mr Beattie said.
“The survey was conducted across the 12 council areas currently subject to Level 5 water restrictions."

Mr Beattie said the results showed 71% of respondents on the Sunshine Coast favoured recycling – yet none of us have level 5 restrictions.

When questioned, the Queensland Water Commission said it could not specify how many Coast residents were in the survey.

However, it said the survey had been conducted throughout the entire south-east, not just the 12 council areas identified by Mr Beattie.

See - Beattie's poll not true.