Media Release

14 March 2018: KAP Federal Member for Kennedy Hon Bob Katter MP along with State Member for Hill Shane Knuth MP have combined forces in applying renewed pressure to get the North Johnstone Transfer through after visiting flood affected areas in Innisfail yesterday along with Councillors of the Cassowary Coast where the damage bill has come in at tens of thousands of dollars.

The Members’ labelled the recent flood as having added ‘fuel to the fire’ and that the significant damage could have been alleviated had the North Johnstone Transfer already been in place.

Mr Katter said upon inspection that the impact zone with the most destruction could have been prevented if the water level was less by just two feet. He argues that while floods cannot be prevented, it would be remiss not to implement proactive infrastructure to lessen the impact of flooding while also filling up our water supply.

Mr Katter said, “Despite all the rain, the Tinaroo Dam is only 70% full. The wet season is over and there’s a lot of doubt whether there will be enough water to take us through to next Christmas. If that water had been diverted to the Johnstone into Tinaroo, there is every likelihood the dam would now be full and the tens of millions of dollars of damage would not have occurred.
“Mr Knuth and I will be dramatically ramping up the pressure to get the North Johnstone Transfer underway, which was always in the original design plan for Lake Tinaroo.
“We need a double weir because the interest of the farmers of North Johnstone need to be looked after too. To be effective there might be a bit of a balancing pond to be acquired, but we are not making things too complicated, it’s very simple – a little tiny ditch 3km long,” Mr Katter said.
Mr Knuth said he has already raised the issue with the Premier and argued that the project could not only save millions of dollars on flood mitigation, but also provide water stability for all users in Lake Tinaroo in a cost effective way – essentially hitting two birds with one stone.
“We have already raised the issue with the Premier and have been lobbying the Natural Resource Minster. The reality is with the way we’re going it will be 100 years before they’ll commit to build another dam and in this circumstance we can crack two birds with the one stone, saving millions of dollars of flood mitigation and destruction in the Innisfail region and provide water security for all users in Lake Tinaroo. The reality is to construct and upgrade a bridge costs up to $30m - surely $20m for North Johnstone transfer is not much too ask for,” Mr Knuth said.

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