Bob Katter

Major water development is taking place across North Queensland, from the dam at Hughenden, to the Weir at Charters Towers, the Hells Gates Dam (Revised Bradfield Scheme), the North Johnstone Transfer on the Tablelands, the Stone River Weirs at Ingham or Mary Farms west of Mossman.

These projects aren’t to fatten the pockets of the ‘Cotton Kings’, foreign owners, or the agricultural corporations – the ruling classes if you like.

These projects are about growing the population of inland Australia, which has dwindled away since our major industries were deregulated by the major parties, i.e. dairy, wool, maize, peanuts, tobacco.
They are to provide prosperity and most of all the excitement of owning your own production bench.

To grow population, the irrigation blocks need to be balloted out to local owner-operator, owner-occupier farmers. If you live in one of these towns, you will have a shot at owning one of the blocks and you will live on the block.

The size of these towns will grow ten-fold when the projects are built, look what has happened in other Australian towns that got irrigation by land ballot, not by an auction system for the highest bidders.

Population before irrigation:                                       Population Now:

• Emerald         2,000                                                  14,119
• Griffith           500                                                      ‎26,882
• Mareeba        2,470                                                   22,730

However, in Wee Waa where irrigation and cotton was introduced, the population actually went backwards.

That’s why we must implement the ballot system for local owner-operators not corporations.

The Lincoln Homestead Act gave everyone in America the right to a mile by a mile (the great land races we’ve seen in western movies).

The last water release on the Flinders River went to the highest bidder. Not a single job has been created and not a single farm has been opened up.

The population of the towns before the cotton king got a 40,000 acre golden handshake, was the same as it is now.