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Thread: A Certain Insanity

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    Default A Certain Insanity

    Is it just me (and it could be), but are councils and state governments out of their collective gourds?????



    Probably paywalled...

    [quote]Outrage over Chinese water mine plan in Southern Downs
    By Craig Johnstone and Charlie Peel
    10:30PM January 15, 2020
    365 Comments

    Farmers and landholders in the drought-hit Southern Downs #region of Queensland are furious over the lack of government and council opposition to a Chinese-owned company’s plan to mine nearly 100 million #litres of local groundwater a year and sell it off, at a time when local towns are so dry they are #relying on trucked-in water to keep their taps running.

    Southern Downs Regional Council last month voted to approve planned works associated with the project, which could take up to 96 million litres of water a year from an aquifer beneath the Cherrabah Resort near Warwick and truck it to the Gold Coast for commercial plastic bottling.

    The approval came as the council was preparing residents to get used to using just 80 litres of water per person a day and to adopt practices such as three-minute showers and washing clothes only every third day.

    The drought has drained the town of Stanthorpe of its water supply, leaving residents to rely on a convoy of trucks carting water from a dam 75km away.

    The Chinese-owned Royal Duke Holdings, operator of the Cherrabah Resort, has succeeded in winning approval for its groundwater mining venture on various conditions, including upgrading nearby roads.

    According to its application to council, the company wants to build a “water extraction and distribution facility” using underground water from a fractured rock aquifer and sell the product to commercial water bottlers on the Gold Coast.
    READ MORE:Stanthorpe runs dry|Day zero near for convoys to truck in water|Who gives a dam? Ask dry towns|Food bowl dry as dust but show will go on

    Local property owner and fourth-generation cattle farmer Andrew O’Dea, who lives about 5km from the proposed water extraction site, said he was “pretty gutted” by the council’s decision.

    “This mine is going to have a severe impact on our groundwater supplies,” he said. “With the conditions the region is experiencing at the moment, I expected a different outcome.”

    Mr O’Dea said he and other landholders opposing the venture were given no notice that the council was about to make a decision on the water mine application and urged the state government to intervene.

    “There is no excuse to justify taking 96 million litres of water a year out of the aquifer. The risk is just too high,” he said.

    Mr O’Dea’s 800ha farm can stock 200 breeders in a normal season and the paddocks would normally be flush with knee-high pastures. But the herd has been at low numbers since 2015 and was cut to just six remaining cattle in October. The bare ground has only a small spattering of grass.

    “I guess it’s a bit of salt in the wound, having to make decisions based on a lack of water when others are trying to sell their excess,” he said of the choice to de-stock his farm.

    Southern Downs Mayor Tracy Dobie defended the council’s decision, saying it was the government and not the council that issued and managed water-extraction licences.

    She said council approval for works associated with the project was given only on strict conditions.

    The council aimed to use $200,000 of its $1m allocation from the federal government under the drought communities program to help pay for the supply of drinking water to rural households.

    The move to full reliance on trucked-in water is likely to remain in place for the rest of the year as the continuing drought has reduced the town’s Storm King Dam to just 9.6 per cent capacity, enough for emergency use and to keep wildlife alive.

    The campaign encourages residents to limit their toilet use to four half-flushes a day, take three-minute showers and use the washing machine just once every three days.

    Between 40 and 50 truck movements a day are needed to pick up 1.3 million litres of water from Connolly Dam and drive it the 75km to Stanthorpe’s water treatment plant.

    Ms Dobie said even with good falls of rain, it would take time for the water flowing into Storm King Dam to be suitable for use.

    “Our goal is to get a good six months’ supply into Storm King Dam before we stop the water carting,” she said.

    Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced last year that her government would pay the $800,000-a-month cost of carting water to Stanthorpe until the end of 2020.

    The state government has also begun a feasibility study into the need for a pipeline to provide the Southern Downs region from Toowoomba.[quote]
    The fact that there's a highway to hell and a stairway to heaven says a lot about the anticipated traffic flow.

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    Follow the $$$

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    corruption at is finest.

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    Time for Sco Mo to grow a pair and stop this lunacy!
    I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...

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    Quote Originally Posted by lsemmens View Post
    Time for Sco Mo to grow a pair and stop this lunacy!
    Can he even DO that? It's a state issue isn't it? I don't think the feds can do anything about it.
    The fact that there's a highway to hell and a stairway to heaven says a lot about the anticipated traffic flow.

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    Perhaps they should let them drill for the water then direct them to connect the output of the bore to the town supply, a few laws may be necessary, but the town does have an urgent need.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RogerTheDoger View Post
    Perhaps they should let them drill for the water then direct them to connect the output of the bore to the town supply, a few laws may be necessary, but the town does have an urgent need.
    Exactly. The article suggests that the local aquifer water is being sold to the Japanese, and then a possible pipeline built to give the locals water. If that's the case, then as I put in the thread title, it's insane. As alpha0one suggests, it's just money.....f*ck the locals!!!
    The fact that there's a highway to hell and a stairway to heaven says a lot about the anticipated traffic flow.

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    Quote Originally Posted by enf View Post
    Can he even DO that? It's a state issue isn't it? I don't think the feds can do anything about it.
    Probably not, but, as with the fires, maybe it's time the Feds DID take control.
    I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...

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    Quote Originally Posted by lsemmens View Post
    Probably not, but, as with the fires, maybe it's time the Feds DID take control.
    Yeah? Cool....change the constitution and they can.....

    Or maybe it's not the constitution, just convention. Either way, just don't join the blame ScoMo for everything brigade.....it's silly.
    The fact that there's a highway to hell and a stairway to heaven says a lot about the anticipated traffic flow.

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    I'm not blaming ScoMo for anything. I, personally, think he's the best leader we've had for a few years.
    I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...

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    Pauline Hanson mentioned a similar issue this morning - she was opposing the huge govt expenditure of hosting the 2032 Olympics while country towns like Stanthorpe dont have money for water.

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    Quote Originally Posted by VroomVroom View Post
    Pauline Hanson mentioned a similar issue this morning - she was opposing the huge govt expenditure of hosting the 2032 Olympics while country towns like Stanthorpe dont have money for water.
    for once i agree with her


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    Quote Originally Posted by VroomVroom View Post
    Pauline Hanson mentioned a similar issue this morning - she was opposing the huge govt expenditure of hosting the 2032 Olympics while country towns like Stanthorpe dont have money for water.
    As I don't watch nor listen to the MSM, this is the first time I've heard of Q/lands 'aspirations' regarding spending (squandering more like) billions of taxpayers $$$ to satisfy the incurable need of the few to yell "LOOK @ MEEEEEEEE !!!!!!!!'

    How the fook do these ppl get into positions of power ......................ohhh that's right................follow the $$$$$

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    I don't understand why they can't have online polls of all of us to decide about these sorts of things. Something like Do you want the gov to spend xxx Billions for the olympic games.... yes or no

    Actually I do understand, because then these imbeciles might actually have to be answerable to someone.

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    Quote Originally Posted by madtech View Post
    I don't understand why they can't have online polls of all of us to decide about these sorts of things. Something like Do you want the gov to spend xxx Billions for the olympic games.... yes or no

    Actually I do understand, because then these imbeciles might actually have to be answerable to someone.
    Always the best way. Unfortunately the vocal minorities would out vote lazy majority.

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    Quote Originally Posted by madtech View Post
    I don't understand why they can't have online polls of all of us to decide about these sorts of things. Something like Do you want the gov to spend xxx Billions for the olympic games.... yes or no

    Actually I do understand, because then these imbeciles might actually have to be answerable to someone.
    They already are answerable to someone - the people of their electorate.

    We have a representative democracy, where we elect individuals to be our representatives and make decisions on our behalf. The decision ultimately rests with that representative, not the individual.

    A system of online polls such as you describe would be a form of more direct democracy, giving individuals the the ability to decide each issue. The problem is getting the general population to participate, not just the interested parties.

    The representative democracy is the more preferable of the two. As pointed out, in a direct democracy it is not uncommon for the ‘noisy minority’ to win over the views of the ‘lazy majority’.

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    Exactly. I have always likened direct democracy to rule by the town mob. Too often the wrong people get hung.

    What we have certainly isn't perfect, but it IS preferable to all alternatives.
    The fact that there's a highway to hell and a stairway to heaven says a lot about the anticipated traffic flow.

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    If we had online polls, and let the people make decisions, we'd probably be Pissing Billions up the wall right now with direct spending on climate change and indirect losses as a consequence of the policys the misinformed but highly opinionated would want to see brought in.

    The fact is most people don't have the first clue about things but ALWAYS have an opinion 90% inspired by the inevitable one sided story the media and opposing Politicians want them to believe which is pretty much always quite distant from reality and always leaves out a lot of Pertinent facts on any issue.

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    I don't know the reality behind hosting an Olympics but I highly doubt there is a lot more to it than just pissing money up the wall as many would assume.
    I don't know how much money it brings into the country, I don't know what the knock on benefits are long term, I don't know what grants we may get from the Olympic committee or others.
    I also don't know what the hidden costs are, what the deal itself costs and what we provide different people or anything else.

    I think without seeing some sort of balance sheet, Whining about money being pissed up the wall is ignorant in the extreme. It may well be the case but without KNOWING numbers and the returns as well as costs, seems like a lot of rabble rousing to complain about it.

    Before I bitch about it I'll try to find out if it is money just pissed up the wall or it has long term investment value.
    Spending money is not the question, the return you get from it is the important bit.

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