weekly hansard - Queensland Parliament - Queensland Government

2616 Plumbing and Drainage and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 23 Aug 2005
Ms Nelson-Carr: A very good local member.
Mr O’BRIEN: She is a very good local member. I know that the member for Barron River is eager
to speak to this bill today because in far-north Queensland she has been leading the debate on putting
in a Smart State strategy to reduce the need for this massive infrastructure, which has detrimental
effects. She knows—and I support her in this—that by being smart, such as by introducing legislation
such as this, and through other measures we can reduce the need to install damaging infrastructure like
dams. With those few words, I commend the bill to the House.
Mr WALLACE (Thuringowa—ALP) (5.37 pm): Like my colleague the member for Cook, I will
keep my comments brief because this is a commonsense bill introduced by a commonsense
government. As the previous speaker mentioned, this bill makes a lot of sense. I know that we are all
suffering from one of the greatest droughts in our state’s history. We have to think of the future, and this
bill will go a long way towards helping households contribute in some small way to water conservation. I
congratulate the Minister for Environment, Local Government, Planning and Women on bringing this
legislation before the House. In her short term so far as the minister she certainly has done very well.
Many local governments across Queensland that I speak to sing Desley’s praises. She should be
congratulated.
Mr O’Brien: Hear, hear!
Mr WALLACE: I take that injection from the member for Cook. He, too, knows the wonderful work
that the member for Cairns is doing in her portfolio. I also thank the minister for her interest in some grey
water matters in the Thuringowa-Townsville area and my plan to pipe treated sewage, which is currently
flowing into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon, to Queensland Nickel so that water can be used in its
processing plant. That will reduce Queensland Nickel’s reliance on the underground water supply in the
Black River catchment, which in turn will assist the many residents in the area who wish to sink bores.
On behalf of the residents of that area, I thank the minister for her help in getting that project up, which
will hopefully be running in the coming year.
I have seen grey water in action. When I was a kid I remember Dad leading the hose from the
washing machine out to his vegie gardens. When I was a kid at Home Hill we lived in an unsewered
area. Dad always had A1 vegetables. Maybe it was the grey water that he used to water the beans, the
peas and the pumpkins that we ate when we were kids. They were A-grade produce. When I was a kid I
also remember being encouraged to have a pee under the bush lemon tree in the morning because it
was considered quite good for the bush lemon tree.
Mr Choi interjected.
Mr WALLACE: It still does. I take the member for Capalaba’s interjection. Being Chinese, he has
a very green thumb. I have eaten some of the produce in China which I am sure has been fertilised in a
similar manner.
Turning back to the bill before us, I again reinforce that it is a sensible reuse of our resources.
Water is becoming more and more precious. I take the member for Cook’s point about no more dams in
far-north Queensland. I can heartily agree that it is a beautiful part of the world. We might take his
expenditure, though, on stage 2 of the Burdekin Dam at some stage in the future, if that is all right with
him.
This bill gives local governments the ability to play a role in this process, to have a look at
individual applications and refuse them where they are not suitable. There are types of ground clay soils
where this would not be suitable, but I know that there are many types of soil in the Thuringowa area
where the reuse of grey water would be not only useful but also desirable. With those few words, I
commend the bill to the House. I again commend the minister and urge my fellow members to support
the bill wholeheartedly.
Mrs LIZ CUNNINGHAM (Gladstone—Ind) (5.40 pm): I rise to support the Plumbing and Drainage
and Other Legislation Amendment and, in doing so, I will probably echo a lot of the comments that have
already been made. In rural and regional Queensland the use of grey water in unsewered areas has
been beneficial. The previous speaker talked about using it on gardens around the home, on both
vegetable gardens and ornamental gardens. Providing people are conscious of what they use in their
systems, particularly ensuring that for their washing they use non-phosphate detergents and other
protective mechanisms, there is no reason why there should be a problem with any build-up of any
unwanted residues in the garden.
I do not think there would be too many towns in Queensland that have not been affected by
drought over the last 10 years. We have quite a significant dam structure which has recently been
augmented. Just before Christmas 2003 there were first-tier restrictions on industry, and they were
looking at second-tier restrictions, which would mean 50 per cent restrictions on water allocation. It was
quite a significant impost on those companies. Many of them had been forced to look at water
alternatives. One of the benefits was that QAL negotiated with the Gladstone City Council to use its
treated effluent through the industrial process, and that is a long-term benefit to the Gladstone city area.
Calliope shire has recycled its treated water for many years and has particularly used it as irrigation on