00:00 Paradise Dam sits on the Burnet River south of Bundaberg.
00:06 It was built in 2005 to provide water security.
00:09 Instead, it's a major infrastructure failure.
00:13 The current Labor state member blames his predecessors.
00:16 The Beattie government commissioned this dam.
00:19 And I think that Peter Beattie owes a personal apology to the people of Bundaberg.
00:22 The wall was lowered by five metres due to safety concerns in 2020.
00:28 Sunwater admits it now doesn't meet safety standards and the strength of the concrete
00:32 will deteriorate.
00:34 We have confidence that the dam is safe today.
00:38 But the issue for us is investing in that dam and trying to rebuild that dam up is not
00:42 a viable alternative going forward.
00:45 Sunwater is recommending a completely new structure about 70 metres downstream to return
00:50 the dam to its full 300,000 megalitre capacity.
00:54 We need to make sure that we can give certainty to this community that we are going to deliver
00:58 this project.
00:59 This is a farce.
01:01 It's the greatest infrastructure failure this country has seen and the government is not
01:06 accepting responsibility.
01:07 Farmers are sceptical a new dam will be built.
01:11 I do not believe that I will see the new Paradise Dam wall built in my lifetime.
01:17 No budget has been outlined for the rebuild project but Sunwater says it has started work
01:23 on a business case and new environmental approvals will be sought.
01:28 $1.2 billion promised by the state and federal government to fix the original will kickstart
01:34 the project but it's certain to cost much more than that.
01:38 Once we get the detailed business case then we'll be able to tell how much more this project
01:43 is going to cost on top of the $1.2 billion at that point in time.
01:47 In the meantime the troubles aren't going anywhere.
01:50 We are not abandoning the current dam, we continue to operate and maintain that dam.
01:53 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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