1 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:06,960 Speaker 1: From The Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Christinamiot. 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: It's Monday, December eighth, twenty twenty five. Foreign Minister Penny 3 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 1: Wong and Defense Minister Richard Miles are off to Washington, 4 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:20,240 Speaker 1: DC this week. They're in town for high level talks 5 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:23,680 Speaker 1: about the Aucust Military Pact, but they'll be feeling the 6 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: pressure to bolster defense spending after the White House released 7 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 1: its new national security strategy. That story's live right now 8 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:41,840 Speaker 1: at the Australian dot com dot AU. A peaceful valley 9 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:45,400 Speaker 1: was meant to become a renewable energy hotspot, but farmers 10 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: say their water has been poisoned today when a green 11 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 1: energy dream goes wrong. About twenty five minutes drive west 12 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:04,000 Speaker 1: of Mackay in Queensland lies the picturesque Pioneer Valley, one 13 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: of the state's oldest farming communities. It's where rolling green 14 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:11,640 Speaker 1: hills boorder, sugar cane fields and platypum swim under glittering 15 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:16,399 Speaker 1: waterfalls in the National Park. But families who farmed this 16 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:20,679 Speaker 1: land for years say their fresh, clean groundwater has been 17 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: contaminated by a defunct green energy project proposed by the 18 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 1: former State Labor government, and now no one will tell 19 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:29,560 Speaker 1: them what's going on. 20 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 2: Over the next one hundred years, Queensland's competitiveness will be 21 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 2: on an entirely different focus, relying on harnessing, moving, and 22 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:45,480 Speaker 2: storing renewable energy. 23 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 1: This is a speech given by the former Queensland Premier 24 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: and a state of palichet in twenty twenty two. 25 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 2: To put that in the language of sport, this isn't 26 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 2: a sprint or even a marathon, It's a triathlon. 27 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: The grand was this cut greenhouse gas emissions by seventy percent, 28 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: triple the number of renewables projects, and accelerate the closure 29 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:12,520 Speaker 1: of Queensland's coal fired power stations. The former Labor government 30 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:16,639 Speaker 1: said two huge pumped hydro projects were vital to achieving 31 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:17,519 Speaker 1: those goals. 32 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:21,919 Speaker 2: I prefer to call it the Battery of the North. 33 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 2: It will be the largest pumped hydro storage in the world, 34 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:30,880 Speaker 2: with five gigawatts of twenty four hour storage and the 35 00:02:30,919 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 2: potential for Stage one to be completed by twenty thirty two. 36 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 2: These are projects of national significance on a scale not 37 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 2: seen since the construction of Snowy Hydro. Bigger than Snowy Hydro. 38 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 1: So a taxpayer funded organization called Queensland Hydro was established 39 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:56,519 Speaker 1: to develop the five gigawat Pioneer Bertekin pumped hydro project 40 00:02:56,639 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: in the Pioneer Valley and another southwest of NUSA, but 41 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:04,520 Speaker 1: the Palochet government didn't do its homework, and just days 42 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: after the twenty twenty four state election, and despite a 43 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:11,640 Speaker 1: taxpayer cash splash on fifty properties in the region, a 44 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: long delayed report deemed the multi billion dollar project commercially unviable. 45 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 1: It was subsequently shelved by David Chrisofoli's victorious Liberal government. 46 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 3: So we've spoken to a number of landholders across the 47 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 3: Pioneer Valley and what they're telling us is that their 48 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 3: wells and their dams that they draw their drinking supply 49 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 3: and use for irrigation has been contaminated. 50 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:42,800 Speaker 1: Michael McKenna is The Australian's Queensland Editor. 51 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 3: There was tubidity in the water of the wells, there 52 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 3: was discoloration in the drinking water dams, and most recently 53 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 3: there's been a black mark, an oily substance that has 54 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 3: come from the bottom of these wells. Some of the 55 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 3: landholders have sent their water off for testing and they 56 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 3: report and I have seen these test results, and they 57 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 3: show that there's dangerous levels of aluminium, iron, and manganese, 58 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:19,479 Speaker 3: as well as the Ecla bacteria that has been found 59 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:23,359 Speaker 3: in their water supply. The first signs of this was 60 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 3: happening when there was actual drilling being conducted on the 61 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:31,719 Speaker 3: land for the Pioneer Bertican project. But these problems have 62 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 3: continued to occur, and I have spoken to landholders going 63 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:40,840 Speaker 3: back about fifty or sixty years. I've tracked down people 64 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,359 Speaker 3: that grew up on the properties. On one of the 65 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 3: worst affected properties, he's a seventy year old man, Bernie Mansell, 66 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:50,479 Speaker 3: and he lived on the property and farmed it for 67 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 3: sugarcane for decades. And he and a couple of others 68 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 3: that took over this land after he sold it have 69 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 3: said that there was never any discolouration, There was no 70 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:04,719 Speaker 3: problem with the well and certainly no contamination. 71 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 1: Hydro Geologists privately hired to look into the alleged contamination 72 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: have linked it to exploratory drilling conducted before the Pioneer 73 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:18,720 Speaker 1: Burkin project was canned. That's where experts drilled deep into 74 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 1: the earth to understand what they're working with. In this case, 75 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: almost a kilometer. According to public records. What does Queensland 76 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: Hydro say about that alleged contamination. 77 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 3: So they've denied any responsibility for the alleged contamination in 78 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:40,040 Speaker 3: any of the water supplies in the Pioneer Valley. They 79 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:44,000 Speaker 3: have looked at one of the worst affected properties and 80 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 3: looked at the test results and done some field work. 81 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,440 Speaker 3: What they have said, or what their findings are is 82 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:54,120 Speaker 3: that these metals were already evident in the ground, and 83 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:59,359 Speaker 3: they're suggesting that the contamination or the dangerous levels of 84 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 3: the metals and also the existence of the E. Colon 85 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:06,719 Speaker 3: bacteria is as a result of heavy rain events that 86 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 3: occurred earlier this year, and that it stirred up some 87 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:14,359 Speaker 3: of this material in the ground and that it washed 88 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:17,599 Speaker 3: down the hill and into the wells now. I have 89 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:23,599 Speaker 3: spoken to landholders. There's been two landholders and another farmer 90 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:27,279 Speaker 3: that have leased this property over the last fifty years. 91 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 3: I've spoken to all three of them and they dismissed 92 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:34,239 Speaker 3: this suggestion. They're saying that there has always been heavy 93 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:37,600 Speaker 3: rain in this area, but going back those decades, they 94 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 3: have never seen what has happened the discoloration, the tubidity, 95 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:47,719 Speaker 3: and certainly the contamination in that well and in the 96 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:50,359 Speaker 3: surrounding waterspy that it has never happened before. 97 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:55,080 Speaker 1: You've spoken to people who, as you said, have lived 98 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 1: on and farmed this land for many, many decades. How 99 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:01,400 Speaker 1: has this situation affected the king comunity in Pioneer Valley. 100 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 3: Well, right from the beginning, this project has split the community. 101 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 3: You've got to understand that there was no full warning. 102 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 3: One day, they were going about their business, they were 103 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:16,160 Speaker 3: farming their land. It was this tight net small community. 104 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:20,120 Speaker 3: And the next they heard on the news that their valley, 105 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:23,680 Speaker 3: which is one of the most pristine, beautiful valleys, it 106 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 3: sits under the Jungella National Park. It's a boxed in 107 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 3: valley that they found out that it was going to 108 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 3: be flooded and filled with water to create this massive 109 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:39,240 Speaker 3: mammoth pump hydro project. Now, some of the landholders were 110 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:42,400 Speaker 3: able to sell their property. They were moving into retirement 111 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 3: and they sold it at a premium. Others wanted to 112 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:48,920 Speaker 3: stay and want to continue on with their farming. But 113 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 3: while this process was going on, I've been told that 114 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 3: Queensland Hydro wasn't public about the prices that were being 115 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 3: offered on each of the properties, that there was non 116 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 3: disclosure agreements that were put on those that had sold 117 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:04,920 Speaker 3: there was suspicion. And then up above there are people 118 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 3: who live in and around the national park, the Yungella 119 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 3: National Park who was so concerned about the impact on 120 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 3: the spring water and the waterways up there, which is 121 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:20,320 Speaker 3: full of platypus. And so this project has pitted people 122 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:22,440 Speaker 3: against each other in the community. I have been told 123 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:26,360 Speaker 3: repeatedly that this has caused division within the community, and 124 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 3: particularly the contamination. There's a lot of angst. I've spoken 125 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:32,320 Speaker 3: to farmers who say that they haven't been able to 126 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 3: sleep at night. These are people that have worked the 127 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:40,079 Speaker 3: land for decades and they've built up their enterprise. The 128 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:43,560 Speaker 3: local MP for the area, Glenn Kelly, has confirmed to 129 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:46,640 Speaker 3: me that he has spoken to people who believe that 130 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 3: their lands contaminated, but they're afraid of what it would 131 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 3: do to the value of their land. 132 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:55,360 Speaker 1: So why do it at all. 133 00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:59,600 Speaker 3: When you look at the policy that was announced in 134 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:03,920 Speaker 3: September twenty twenty two, both in the ambition and the 135 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:08,439 Speaker 3: size of the policy, timing is important. The Greens had 136 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:11,880 Speaker 3: won seats at the federal election. State Labor was down 137 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:14,679 Speaker 3: in the polls and the Greens were up in the 138 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:19,400 Speaker 3: state Poles and Anastasia Poloshe who was in her third term, 139 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:25,439 Speaker 3: wanted something to recharge her leadership, and this I've been 140 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 3: led to believe it was both the parent and what 141 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 3: I've understood from speaking to people inside the government at 142 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 3: the time is that this was what was supposed to 143 00:09:34,679 --> 00:09:39,959 Speaker 3: carry her through to the October twenty twenty four election. 144 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:45,120 Speaker 3: And also they say more importantly, wedged the Liberal National 145 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 3: Party government because they would probably have some concerns about 146 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:53,720 Speaker 3: the projects and they could have a point of distinction 147 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 3: from the Liberal National. 148 00:09:55,080 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: Party coming up, how Pioneer Valley residents are being kept 149 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:21,400 Speaker 1: in the dark. Joe Bijaya has been farming ultra sweet 150 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 1: sugar cane in the Pioneer Valley for three decades. He's 151 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:28,840 Speaker 1: had the water on three of his four properties independently tested, 152 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:32,839 Speaker 1: and preliminary findings in a draft report by a hydrogeologist 153 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:37,800 Speaker 1: support his suspicions that alleged contamination was caused by exploratory drilling, 154 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:41,840 Speaker 1: but he says Queensland Hydro won't share results from testing 155 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 1: it conducted before drilling started. 156 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:49,840 Speaker 3: Essentially, he's looking for a base to see what the 157 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:52,560 Speaker 3: water was and whether there was any of these alleged 158 00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:55,839 Speaker 3: contaminants in the water before the drilling was done, so 159 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:58,880 Speaker 3: he can compare them with the results that he's independently 160 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:01,640 Speaker 3: got that shows that there are dangerous levels. Now, he 161 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:05,040 Speaker 3: tells me he has repeatedly asked for these results, his 162 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:09,000 Speaker 3: initial test results, and he has never been given those results. 163 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:13,400 Speaker 3: But there is certainly a line of behavior from Queensland 164 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:18,080 Speaker 3: Hydro that I have seen since the project was announced 165 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 3: in September twenty twenty two that shows that well, Queensland 166 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:26,240 Speaker 3: Hydro was saying that they were transparent and they wanted 167 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:30,280 Speaker 3: to constantly keep the community informed. That there are some 168 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:32,840 Speaker 3: things that they held back. You can see it in 169 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:37,360 Speaker 3: the way that they dealt with landholders individually separately and 170 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:40,840 Speaker 3: didn't tell each of their neighbors and the like of 171 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:44,840 Speaker 3: the buy up of land or the progress of the project. 172 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:49,520 Speaker 3: And now with the alleged contamination, Michaels hit a wall too. 173 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:52,920 Speaker 3: So a couple of months ago I put in a 174 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:57,439 Speaker 3: right to information requests for documents that related to Queensland 175 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:02,080 Speaker 3: Hydro and specifically it's correspondence with the then Labor government. 176 00:12:02,679 --> 00:12:07,160 Speaker 3: I was trying to ascertain what Queensland Hydro what they 177 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:10,440 Speaker 3: were telling the government about the progress and problems with 178 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:14,880 Speaker 3: the Pioneer Ertican project, and I was met with a 179 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:20,719 Speaker 3: wall of secrecy. Essentially, this is internal correspondence about the 180 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:24,360 Speaker 3: progress and problems of the project. But I have been 181 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:27,480 Speaker 3: refused to access to the majority of those documents on 182 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:32,280 Speaker 3: the basis that there was a deed a confidentiality agreement 183 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 3: that was struck between the entities which allowed them to 184 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 3: block the public release of any of these documents. This 185 00:12:42,559 --> 00:12:46,920 Speaker 3: agreement between the then Queensland Government and Queensland Hydro is 186 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:51,960 Speaker 3: highly unusual, and moreover, in the legal fight that I've 187 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:55,160 Speaker 3: been having with the government and Queensland Hydro over their 188 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:59,280 Speaker 3: blocking of these documents, that the provisions also prevent them 189 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 3: from telling me why they're blocking it and why the 190 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 3: confidentiality agreement was struck. In my twenty five years of 191 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:12,439 Speaker 3: covering state and federal governments, I have never seen an 192 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:16,840 Speaker 3: agreement like this that effectively ensures that we the public 193 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:20,520 Speaker 3: do not get access into the secrets of this project. 194 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:25,640 Speaker 3: There are often provisions or causes to stop access to 195 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:29,840 Speaker 3: what they call deliberative documents in cabinet, which allows the 196 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:34,520 Speaker 3: cabinet to openly consider a project. But I was seeking 197 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:39,360 Speaker 3: correspondence between a government, a taxpayer owned entity and the 198 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 3: government about a project they're building for the benefit of Queenslanders, 199 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:48,800 Speaker 3: and they have used, as very unusual this rare contract 200 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:52,880 Speaker 3: to block any access to anyone to find out what 201 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:54,760 Speaker 3: it's about. 202 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:08,880 Speaker 1: Michael McKenna is The Australian's Queensland Editor. You can read 203 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:12,640 Speaker 1: his full investigation, plus see photos, videos and more at 204 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:14,360 Speaker 1: the Australian dot com dot au