desalination

Duped by Desalination

“Figures just released to parliament revealing that in excess of $570 million will be paid annually to the consortium building the Wonthaggi desalination plant, regardless of how much water it delivers”, said Neil Rankine, Greens candidate for Bass, “show that the State Government was incompetent in ordering such a large plant.

“AquaSure the international consortium building the plant and the banks, Westpac and NAB, that set up the financing on the other hand have clearly secured a great set of contracts for themselves.

“Premier Bracks said the plant would be run constantly at full capacity when he announced it in 2007. They have been back-pedalling ever since. The excessive scale of the desalination plant was confirmed by studies I was involved in more than two years ago and again by DSE studies for the Environmental Effects Statement required for the desal plant.

Victorian desalination plant may send the state broke!

A forum held at Wonthaggi on Saturday 22nd May heard some shocking revelations about Victoria's desalination plant.

Secrecy surrounding the contracts between the government and the desalination consortium led Kenneth Davidson, a senior journalist at the Age, to question the Victorian Auditor General. Mr Davidson found evidence of further secret contracts and indications of the real cost of the plant. “$900 million a year will eventually come from the pockets of Victorians, to pay for the desalination plant and its water”.

He considers this amount to be unaffordable and could send the state broke within five to ten years.

Desalination debacle – Victoria’s Unsustainable Water Future

“The Brumby government is setting us up for an unsustainable water future, said Samantha Dunn, Greens candidate for Eastern Victoria after hearing Neil Rankine Vice President of Watershed Victoria  speak at the recent Country Greens Network forum in Leongatha. Neil was speaking on the proposed desalination plant in Wonthaggi. 
 
“Mr Brumby has turned his back on sustainable, energy efficient water solutions for Melbourne, said Samantha, “The focus should be on water tanks, stormwater capture and recycling for our city.
 
Neil Rankine said “At the last election we were promised a sustainable water future, involving efficiencies, the closure of polluting ocean outfalls, and a partnering with the community to achieve desirable outcomes.
 
“We now find our Government is abandoning huge quantities of recycled water, they are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to produce class-A water at the Eastern Treatment Plant, only to pump it out to sea at an existing outfall.
 
“Worse still, we are to pay through our water bills for a $4.8 billion desalination factory, which will create yet another polluting outfall at Wonthaggi.

Parliament can block desalination plant approval

Greens MLC's in the state Parliament will try and block the approval of the desalination plant. "We will move a motion of disallowance when Mr Madden tables planning scheme amendments in the Upper House this year" said Greg Barber. 

Turning point in campaign against desalination plant as Bob Brown joins protest

Bob Brown has thrown his support behind the campaign against the desalination plant near Wonthaggi.  The Greens leader will fly down to the Bass Coast site for a protest rally today.

The rally against the $3.1 billion plant will be addressed by Senator Brown and Greens lead Senate candidate in Victoria Richard Di Natale.

 

The Desalination Proposal Is A Loser For The Environment And Household Water Bills, The Greens Say.

Greens environment spokesperson, Greg Barber MLC said: "The Bracks government's proposal for desalination is reportedly for a 150 000 ML plant at a cost of $3 billion dollars. Based on past estimates*, that would generate around 1 million tonnes of CO2."

Greens reject Libs motion on desalination

Greens MLCs have rejected a motion by the Liberals for a parliamentary inquiry into the desalination option.

Syndicate content