No dam reason for holding back

Peter Farago
GEELONG residents should command a little more respect then to be parroted political mantra on why a new dam wouldn’t help save the city’s water plight.
Liberal councillor Andrew Katos and Labor parliamentary secretary for water Michael Crutchfield have locked horns in recent weeks over the former’s call for a full investigation of a possible new dam for Geelong in the Otways.
Revelations the Government ordered a secret report into building a series of dams before the last election adds fuel to the debate.
A Melbourne media report revealed that plans for a $500 million dam at Halls Ridge and a $300 million dam at Upper Gellibrand were black-balled after consultants found that the environment and delivery costs were too high.
Mr Crutchfield said the report backed the Government’s no-dams policy and its billion-dollar plan to “drought-proof” the state for the next 50 years.
But Mr Katos leapt on the report and called on its full release.
While the study reportedly backed the Government’s stance on dams, it wasn’t revealed whether the consultants believed that the dams would have filled with water – a key reason why Labor says they would be a waste of money.
And Mr Crutchfield has not enlightened residents on that subject, either.
Mr Crutchfield dodged a call from Cr Katos and questioning from the Independent on whether the Government would release the report.
Only full release of the report would truly end the debate on a new dam for Geelong because, as long as residents are provided with merely political slogans, there’s no way they can make a truly informed decision.
Labor has already copped a spray from the Auditor-General over its rushed water plan.
And considering it instead decided to spend billions of taxpayers’ money on desalination only months after publicly rubbishing it, the eventual owners of the infrastructure have the right to know whether their money is being spent wisely.
The only way to do that is to release the report.
If the report backs the position that only desalination and interconnection to Melbourne can help Geelong then kudos to the Government for making the hard decision.
But if it blew a hole in the Government’s argument then Mr Crutchfield needs to knock on his boss’s door and demand an investigating into a new dam for Geelong.