House debates

Thursday, 25 February 2021

Statements by Members

Urannah Dam

1:52 pm

Photo of George ChristensenGeorge Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Urannah Dam will create more than 1,800 jobs and transform the Whitsundays-Bowen-Collinsville region and the Mackay region, but it is under threat from the extreme Greens and their newly appointed paid activists. The word 'extreme' needs to be taken literally, because Annabel Deane, their paid activist, has a Facebook profile with the slogan 'Eff Australia Day and eff colonisation'. She has campaigned against jobs at the Carmichael mine and rail site, and now she has turned her attentions to the Urannah Dam.

The extreme Greens claim the numbers don't stack up for Urannah, but I wouldn't trust the Greens with a budget for a school tuckshop let alone a major piece of water infrastructure. The fact is that the Urannah Dam has the highest benefit-cost ratio of any proposed dam in the country. What it amounts to is that for every dollar the government spends, the taxpayer will get $2 in return.

The extreme Greens will always find some bird or animal to hold something up. This time it's a yellow headed snapping turtle which breathes through its bottom. That should be an emblem for the Greens, because they talk out of theirs! Our research indicates that this turtle has been found in a number of creeks and rivers as far away as near Townsville, not just at the site of the dam.

The people of North Queensland have absolutely no tolerance for these extreme Greens activists. They've got no tolerance for paid extreme Greens activists who are out there to destroy local jobs, destroy opportunities for the north and destroy opportunities for new farming. I've got to say, as the member for Dawson I am very proud to be a fighter for local jobs in my region and projects that will create local jobs. I will not let the Greens destroy this dam.

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