Tenders for Emu Swamp Dam closed in September, but any enquiries to GBIP, despite the claim on its website that it is “committed to keeping you informed” are met with a blanket response of information being “commercial in confidence”.  So we’re left playing games like “Who wants to be a millionaire?”

What is the cost increase of Emu Swamp Dam between the 2019 Jacobs estimate and received tenders?

A.    0% (on budget)                 B.  50%                 

C.  100% (double)                     D.  More than 100%

I phone a friend because, let’s face it, it’s a badly kept secret what the cost blowout is.  They say the money of those in the know is on (d).

This could mean taxpayers and ratepayers end up funding more than 90% of the project.  But despite this generosity, taxpayers are not being kept up to date with the most important aspect of the project: how much will it cost?

It’s time to call BS on the claims of “commercial in confidence”.  While the detailed amounts and terms in the tender documents may well be confidential, the headline amount of the project should not be.  Not when it’s being bankrolled by the electorate and particularly not given that Queensland taxpayers funded all of the work needed to get these tenders done in the first place.  The electorate have a right to know about substantial changes in the project, so that an open discussion and debate can be had about whether the project represents the best use of both taxpayers’ money and water allocations in the district.

If this were a 100% government project, we wouldn’t be kept in the dark.  There would have to be:

• transparency;

• decision-making in the public interest; and

• democratic representation and meaningful community engagement.

And it’s not just GBIP who are not being open.  How many SDRC residents will truly believe that Councillors who have been involved in this project since its inception don’t know about the results of the tender?  Not many I reckon. 

As always, secrecy leads to suspicion.  Why isn’t GBIP being open about this information?  It wouldn’t harm GBIP’s position, as the tenders have closed.  And if GBIP wants more government funding shouldn’t we all, as taxpayers and ratepayers, be fully informed about the project?