Toowoomba Regional Council's Councillor Pay Rise PR disaster ...

What a difference a month or so makes:

12 December 2009:

Earlier this week, the Local Government Remuneration Tribunal announced its decision to recommend an increase in pay levels of local representatives from January 1, 2010.

Councillors Joe Ramia, Ros Scotney, Bill Cahill, Mike Williams and Mayor Peter Taylor said they would vote against accepting the pay rise.

See - The Chronicle - Councillors don't want pay rises.

27 January 2010:

Councillors Joe Ramia, Ros Scotney, Mike Williams and Mayor Peter Taylor: Show us the money - hell yes we want a pay rise.

Councillor Bill Cahill - No, I still don't want a pay rise.

And then the poorly conceived cover up:

Deputy Mayor Antonio and Councillor Marks - 2 + 2 really equals 1 - It was a pay cut.

And: Please feel sorry for us - We're actually taking a pay cut and The Chronicle is really nasty to us.

The facts (courtesy of The Chronicle):

"These are the remuneration numbers for councillors (which include amalgamation loading in brackets):

2008

Mayor … $137,600

Deputy … $96,935

Councillors … $87,560

2009

Mayor … $156,894 ($11,350)

Deputy … $106,115 ($8035)

Councillors … $95,790 ($7200)

2010

Mayor … $158,230 ($8110)

Deputy … $106,910 ($5740)

Councillors … $96,525 ($5145)

Forget about the BlackBerrys or mobile phones, company cars or fuel allowances, laptop or desktop computers and their long list of travel accommodation and meal expenses, councillors appear to be doing very nicely."

Apparently, in the minds of some Councillors, $96,525 is actually less than $95,790.

If it looks like a pay rise and sounds like a pay rise, it probably is a pay rise.

To quote The Chronicle:

"No-one I know gets to tie their wage or salary to CPI or inflation.

To factor them into remuneration to show a “pay cut” is mischievous manipulation of figures."

Useless to try to deny it - just digging a bigger hole for themselves.

PR disaster from start to finish.

Politics, even local government politics, is all about perception. These Councillors seem to have forgotten who pays their salaries ...

Toowoomba a step closer to drinking treated sewage (or is it) ...

ABC's PM (annotated):

Toowoomba a step closer to drinking treated sewerage (sic)

28 January 2010

SHANE MCLEOD: The Queensland city of Toowoomba found itself catapulted onto the national stage in 2006 when local residents fought and won a battle over the introduction of recycled treated sewage into their water supply.

And today, a pipeline was opened that connects the regional centre to Brisbane's water supply.

That will help the city guard its water security. But, it means that purified wastewater will be pumped into the system in times of severe drought.

Regardless, opponents are adamant they haven't lost the battle, as Annie Guest reports from Brisbane.

ANNIE GUEST: For some years debate in the Darling Downs town of Toowoomba was dominated by recycled water, with advertisements like this one from a political candidate called Rob Berry.

EXCERPT FROM ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN:

ROB BERRY (voiceover): Don't risk infection from drinking water sourced from the sewer. Don't risk your family's health unnecessarily, it's too important.

[4350water: this ad was not from the 2006 Referendum but by one of candidates at a later council election. ABC mistake/sensationalist reporting.]

ANNIE GUEST: Sixty-two per cent of Toowoomba residents voted against the introduction of recycled treated sewerage in 2006. Today, their city has been connected to a pipeline that could deliver such water.

[4350water: or perhaps it will never deliver such water - it's too early to speculate.]

ANNA BLIGH: The water grid has not only provided security for the people of southeast Queensland but it has meant we now have that little bit extra to help out a great city like Toowoomba.

ANNIE GUEST: The Premier Anna Bligh officially launched the pipeline connecting Toowoomba to Brisbane's water supply. It's part of a $9 billion water grid designed to shore up supply for south east Queensland.

Toowoomba has been nervous about running out of water; it's dam levels are at only 8 per cent capacity.

ANNA BLIGH: This city was looking at a very grim outlook without this water pipeline. It's a $187 million commitment between the State Government and the Toowoomba City Council and it's delivering long-term water security way into the future for the people of Toowoomba.

[4350water: Anna Bligh seems to forget that it's now the Toowoomba Regional Council.]

ANNIE GUEST: And that security includes a State Government commitment to pump purified recycled effluent into the system when south east Queensland's combined dam levels fall below 40 per cent.

[4350water: That 'commitment' is about as solid as air - Anna Bligh will change her mind on this if it will get votes - if she's still around at the point the dams hit 40%. Remember how much Labor has flipflopped on the issue already.]

ROSEMARY MORLEY: We are firmly opposed to water from a recycle plant.

ANNIE GUEST: Toowoomba resident Rosemary Morley founded the group, Citizens Against Drinking Sewerage, leading the no campaign in the 2006 vote.

And despite the Queensland Government's position, Rosemary Morley is adamant Toowoomba will never have recycled treated sewerage.

ROSEMARY MORLEY: We have enough of a committee and a fighting machine up here to reject that again and we would.

ANNIE GUEST: So you don't accept that in times of desperate water shortages you've lost this battle against recycled water?

ROSEMARY MORLEY: No, I think we've won this battle.

ANNIE GUEST: But the Government went to the last state election having spelled out its promise to introduce the recycled treated water if the combined dam levels fall below 40 per cent.

So can you just spell out for us why you think it would retreat from that if the situation arose?

ROSEMARY MORLEY: Because the public would, the backlash out here would see them unseated in government.

ANNIE GUEST: There are experts on either side of the debate; those who argue there are high safety standards in the treatment plants, and others who say it can never be safe enough.

But political leaders seem to be running out of other palatable water supply options in southeast Queensland.

A dam north of the Sunshine Coast was recently spectacularly rejected by the Federal Government and the alternative for more desalination plants is causing angst elsewhere in the electorate.

Meanwhile, for Toowoomba's local leaders, today's pipeline launch couldn't come soon enough.

The Mayor is Peter Taylor.

PETER TAYLOR: And it does secure our water future, not just for today, short-term, long-term for the growth that's coming with the mining and growth in other industries in our region, but it secures our future for up to 50 years for a water supply for the biggest inland city in Queensland. The second largest inland city in Australia is Toowoomba.

ANNIE GUEST: Another potential political headache is the cost of water. A deal has been struck to limit Toowoomba residents' water costs in the near future, but prices are expected to rise after that.

SHANE MCLEOD: Annie Guest reporting.

See - ABC PM - Toowoomba a step closer to drinking treated sewerage.

Water flows from Wivenhoe Dam through pipe to Toowoomba ...

28 January 2010

Brisbane's Wivenhoe Dam has come to the rescue of the parched southern Queensland city of Toowoomba.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh on Thursday was on hand to witness the first flow of water from a $187 million, 38km pipeline connecting Wivenhoe Dam to Toowoomba.

The Cressbrook Dam, which is receiving the water, is currently at 7.4 per cent capacity - the lowest of the three dams feeding Toowoomba.
...

See - Courier Mail - Water flows from Wivenhoe Dam through pipe to Toowoomba.

Sydney's new desalination plant switched on ...

Sydney's controversial desalination plant has been switched on and is pumping purified sea water into the city's drinking supply.

NSW Premier Kristina Keneally pushed the button on the $1.9 billion plant, at Kurnell in Sydney's south, this morning.

At capacity, the plant will generate 250 million litres of water a day, providing around 15 per cent of Sydney's water supply.

Ms Keneally said the cost of the plant would mean an extra $2 a week on Sydneysiders' water bills.

The plant was delivered on time and $60 million under budget, she said.
...

See - Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney's desal plant switched on.

New Toowoomba Regional Council water restrictions ...

Easing of water restrictions due to pipeline

28 January 2010

People on properties connected to Toowoomba’s bulk water supply can now use buckets to water their gardens on a restricted basis.

Water Services portfolio leader Cr Paul Antonio said with water now pumping from Wivenhoe Dam into Lake Cressbrook, council could afford to relax water restrictions for certain outside uses.

“The Wivenhoe pipeline provides a greater level of security for our water supply for the coming decades.

“Properties connected to Toowoomba’s bulk water scheme can now bucket water their gardens over a period of three hours from 4pm to 7 pm, three afternoons per week on an odds and evens street numbers system.

”This compares with no outside watering under the previous Level 5 restrictions,” Cr Antonio said.

However, the consumption target will remain at 140 litres per person per day.

The previous system of water restrictions based on a numbering system - Levels 1 to 5 - has been replaced by a regime implemented by the Queensland Water Commission for Southeast Queensland. This regime has four levels from ‘permanent conservation measures’ through to ‘extreme level’ restrictions.

“However, although we have based our new restriction regime on that adopted for Southeast Queensland, our arrangements will have different trigger levels linked to the levels of our own dam storages.

“Toowoomba and area consumers will therefore be on the highest level - extreme level - water restrictions while Southeast Queensland will be on the lowest level - permanent conservation measures.

While Brisbane water storages are sitting at around 70 percent, Toowoomba storages remain at less than 8 percent.

Toowoomba and area water consumers have adhered to some of the country’s toughest water restrictions over the last five years with residential use in Toowoomba averaging around 125 litres/person/day for the last two years.

The new water restrictions include a number of further measures intended to assist water users.

“Residents aged over 70 or with a documented disability can apply to council for a limited concession on garden watering.

“If approved, they can use a handheld hose fitted with a trigger or twist nozzle instead of bucketing, for two 20 minute sessions per week at specified times.

Residents need to understand that the concession is only available upon application to council.

In addition, limited watering can be applied to new turf and private swimming pools can be topped up at specified times and subject to special conditions.

Residents on the Toowoomba supply should receive a fridge magnet in their mailboxes soon, which outlines the main aspects of the new water restrictions.

See - New Toowoomba Regional Council water restrictions.

Wivenhoe dam to Toowoomba pipeline link to open ...

Water will flow today from the $187 million pipeline connecting Wivenhoe Dam to drought-stricken Toowoomba.

The 38km State Government-subsidised Wivenhoe-Cressbrook Dam pipeline has secured the long-term water supply for the Garden City's 121,000 residents through connection to the South East Queensland Water Grid.

Cressbrook Dam is currently hovering at 7.4 per cent capacity - the lowest of the three dams feeding Toowoomba which are at 7.8 per cent.

See - The Chronicle - Pipeline breaks drought.

Water rates hike pays for Toowoomba Regional Council Councillor pay rises ...

Mayor Peter Taylor and three councillors have voted in favour of the three per cent pay rise they told Toowoomba residents last year they would not support.

Cr Bill Cahill was the only one who stood by his statement in The Chronicle in December when he, along with councillors Joe Ramia, Ros Scotney, Mike Williams and Peter Taylor, said they would vote against the increase.

While he did not have a vote at yesterday’s meeting in Oakey, Cr Taylor offered no objection during the debate.

The increase means Toowoomba’s mayor will pocket $159,850 a year, a pay rise of $2956, deputy mayor Paul Antonio will receive $108,060 a year, up by $1945, and councillors will earn $97,550, an increase of $1760.

Built into the salaries is an amalgamation loading which will decrease on July 1.
...

See - The Chronicle - Council votes for pay rise.

Toowoomba Regional Council strikes water deal for Wivenhoe dam water ...

The Chronicle:

Council wins in water deal

27 January 2010

Toowoomba ratepayers won’t pay any extra for water over the next three years in a deal expected to be sealed between the State Government and Toowoomba Regional Council tomorrow.

Mayor Peter Taylor told The Chronicle yesterday the council had all but secured a three-year reprieve for ratepayers that prevented further increases to water charges.

However, he said it was still possible operational costs beyond this financial year could influence the final price of the Wivenhoe Dam water.
...

The pipeline will deliver 14,200 megalitres of water a year, providing more than 50 per cent of Toowoomba’s current demand.
...

See - The Chronicle - Council wins in water deal.

Qld wakes up to coal seam gas water potential ...

Courier Mail:

Water, water everywhere, but still the dams did shrink

23 January 2010

The arrival of Queensland's coal-seam gas boom poses one of the biggest environmental challenges in the state's history.

I wonder whether the State Government has the backbone or the skills to capitalise on the flood of water that will come with the gas. Or will it be another opportunity lost?

Soon there will be enough water pumped from under the ground in Queensland to fill Sydney Harbour again and again and again. Thousands of wells pumping up water every day for 25 years, perhaps longer.

Ironic, isn't it, in a state so starved of water; a dry land about to commit billions on reverse osmosis post-Traveston?

Oceans of water have to be brought to the surface to release the valuable methane gas trapped under it in coal seams across Queensland's Bowen, Galilee and Surat basins.

Four major players and a handful of minors plan to pipe the gas to Gladstone to compress it into liquid natural gas, hence the name LNG, and sell it overseas.

The LNG projects are fraught with environmental difficulties and so far a lethargic State Government has said little about the dangers - and the opportunities.

The gas boom is likely to usher in a quarter century of prosperity. Just in time, perhaps.

Billions in royalties are urgently needed to fill the fiscal black hole left by 11 years of haphazard Labor management.

If the gas were used only for domestic use, there would be enough to power every home and factory in the state for 300 years.

But for now, it's not about the gas, it's about the water. At high tide, Sydney Harbour is said to hold 562,000 megalitres of water.

One coal-seam gas producer alone reveals in its environmental impact statement that it will extract 1.2 billion litres of water over the life of its project.

QGC Limited, now a wholly owned subsidiary of BG Group (British Gas), spells out the enormous size of its project in its EIS.

"The project will rank as one of Australia's largest capital investments and generate significant economic benefits for Australia, and in particular Queensland, with 4000 direct jobs at the peak of construction, about 1000 permanent positions and an increase in the demand for goods and services.

"The project is forecast to stimulate an increase in Queensland's gross state product of up to $32 billion between 2010 and 2021, or $2.6 billion per annum."

Origin Energy has jumped into bed with ConocoPhillips, the third largest oil and gas company in the US, to form Australia Pacific LNG, and has even larger coal-seam tenements in Queensland than BG.

Australia Pacific has yet to deliver its EIS, but it can be safely assumed it, too, will be extracting in excess of a billion litres of water.

Said a spokesman: "The amount of water produced during coal seam gas extraction varies according to location and certain coal seam characteristics. A single well can turn out anywhere between 50,000 and 1 million litres of water per day."

Australia Pacific says the water, despite its salinity, is far too valuable to waste.

Like BG, Australia Pacific sees a number of beneficial uses from agricultural to industrial use and as a source of drinking water for towns lucky enough to find themselves on the gas fields.

Australia Pacific has already invested $20 million in a reverse osmosis water treatment plant at Spring Gully north of Roma to purify and desalinate water to drinking quality. This facility treats up to 12 million litres of water a day - the equivalent daily water use of around 65,000 people.

At Talinga gas field near Chinchilla, Australia Pacific is constructing a second reverse osmosis plant with the capacity to treat 20 million litres per day, expandable to 40 million litres per day.

The company is also trialling the fast-growing pongamia tree as a source of biodiesel.

Already 3000 bushes are flourishing near Miles on the western Downs.

Santos, which has been exploring the Roma district for oil and gas 40 years, has started a massive hardwood plantation near Chinchilla. No fewer than 700,000 white gums have been planted and will be watered by some of the 90 million litres of water Santos believes it will pump to the surface each day.

Insiders says the plantation may have a million trees for harvest within 20 years.

See - Sunday Mail - Water, water everywhere, but still the dams did shrink.

Australia embraces desalination as rain independent water source ...

In three years, the volume of desalinated water used in Australia's capital cities will have risen tenfold - to more than 450GL a year - since Perth opened the first big plant in 2006. Australia-wide, once smaller industrial and bore-water purification plants are counted, 294 desalination plants are already in operation, with 976 more under construction and another 925 in planning. By 2013, the CSIRO predicts, the total volume of desalted water will surge from the present 294ML a day - 0.6 per cent of all potable water - to more than 2GL a day - more than 4 per cent of the total.

Sydney's first desalination project, due to come online at Kurnell within weeks, is being constructed by John Holland and Veolia Water Australia, the same companies involved in the troubled Gold Coast plant. The $2.4bn project will produce 250ML of water a day, 15 per cent of Sydney's water supply.

Perth's existing plant is the city's biggest single source of water, yielding 17 per cent of the city's supply. A second plant is due to start up next year, at a cost tipping $1bn, to produce 50GL of water annually.

Adelaide's $1.83bn desalination plant - the biggest infrastructure project in South Australia's history - is designed to supply up to half the city's water needs when it opens at Port Stanvac by year's end, purifying 100GL of seawater a year. In Melbourne, where dams are nearly two-thirds empty, desalinated water will provide a third of the city's water supply when the nation's biggest desalination project, the $3. bn plant at Wonthaggi, opens at the end of next year to pump 150GL of water every year into the water system.

See - The Australian - Water's quick fix a long-term drain.

Desalination wins out over recycled water ...

Within two years, 30 per cent of the water supplied to Australia's capital cities will flow from the ocean, as water utilities in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Perth splash $9bn of taxpayers' money on new desalination plants.

By 2013, desalination will be producing more than 450 gigalitres of drinking water - almost the volume of Sydney Harbour - every year.
...

See - The Australian - Water's quick fix a long-term drain.

Anna Bligh's mess - Water's quick fix a long-term drain ...

Rusting in sea water, the $1.2 billion Gold Coast desalination plant required repairs soon after it opened. The showpiece of a Queensland government strategy to drought-proof the state's booming southeast, the project has been plagued by so many construction flaws and unscheduled shut-downs that the government is still refusing to take possession from the contractors who built it.
...

In Brisbane, where dam levels dropped to 17 per cent three years ago, the state government rushed to build the Gold Coast plant as well as a $2.5bn water recycling scheme that will pump purified sewage into the region's dams - now nearly three-quarters full - if they drop back below the 40 per cent mark.
...

See - The Australian - Water's quick fix a long-term drain.

Also see -

One-third of Western Australia's drinking water will come from seawater by the end of next year as the state's second desalination plant eases pressure on Perth's biggest water source, the Gnangara Mound.
...

See - The Australian - Ocean to deliver water for parched state.

Former Qld Minister Nuttall in court over wastewater corruption charges ...

17 January 2010

Former Queensland government minister Gordon Nuttall will face a committal hearing on Monday into corruption and fraud charges.
...

It is alleged that Nuttall received payments from Mr McKennariey when the businessman was receiving funds, as a subcontractor, from two projects being undertaken with the government.

The projects included a Workplace Health and Safety training program in indigenous communities, commissioned by the Department of Industrial Relations in 2001, and a study on wastewater in hospitals commissioned by Queensland Health in 2004 and 2005.
...

See - Courier Mail - Nuttall hearing into fresh corruption charges.

Toowoomba Regional Council close to pipeline water cost deal ...

The Chronicle:

Council close to pipeline deal

14 January 2010

The State Government and Toowoomba Regional Council are on the verge of sealing a deal on the cost of water that will flow through the Wivenhoe pipeline.

The project is only weeks from completion.

The cost of the water could cause a dramatic rise in the already significant water charges to ratepayers.

Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Stirling Hinchliffe yesterday said negotiations had been “vigorous” on both sides.

“I have been talking regularly with Mayor Peter Taylor,” Mr Hinchliffe said. “We have an offer on the table which we think is very fair and equitable.”

Mr Hinchliffe said the project was on track to have water flowing to Toowoomba by the end of this month despite a number of delays due to wet weather, steep terrain and bushfires.

He said all negotiations relating to the cost of the water and maintenance of the pipeline would be finalised with council.

“A pipeline like this, properly maintained, will last hundreds of years,” Mr Hinchliffe said.

Deputy mayor and Water Services spokesman Cr Paul Antonio confirmed council was in the later stages of negotiations with the government.

“We’re working through that offer and trying to get an outcome in the best interest of the community in the long term,” Cr Antonio said.

“It’s been a long, drawn out process ... but I think the community will be well served by the agreement.

“We just need to make sure we get all the ‘Ts’ crossed and the ‘Is’ dotted.”

See - The Chronicle - Council close to pipeline deal.

Wivenhoe to Toowoomba pipeline - update ...

For more information see - Toowoomba Pipeline update.