David White

A huge community campaign in opposition to the construction of a new dam on the Mary River, north of Brisbane, ended last week with a victory for people power.

Community and conservation groups fighting the controversial Mary River Traveston Crossing Dam proposal, near Gympie, have recently held a series of campaign strategy meetings. This followed the Queensland coordinator general’s October 6 approval of the proposal, which attached 1200 conditions to the dam project.

Mary Travers, one-third of the hugely popular and influential 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, died on September 16 after treatment for leukaemia. She was 72.

After two years of controversy, community hostility and political debate, the Queensland government has finally provided the federal environment department with a draft set of conditions under which it believes the planned Traveston Dam can proceed.

On August 17, the Network Working Group, formed out of the January Climate Action Summit, circulated its national network proposal to 300 climate action groups and networks that make up the grassroots climate movement. The groups have until September 18 to vote on the proposal.

The Socialist Alliance condemns and totally rejects the Rudd government’s modified proposal for a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) announced on May 4.

Most Australians now realise that everyone — governments, industry, workers and consumers — must work to stop the rapid increases in greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce existing levels in the atmosphere.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has announced that construction of the controversial Traveston Crossing dam near Gympie will be delayed for several years after advice from the state's Coordinator General that unless more work is done to address the

Carrying the views of thousands of people who oppose the construction of a dam on Queensland’s Mary River, Steve Posselt will kayak from Brisbane to the Sydney office of federal environment minister Peter Garrett to deliver their petitions.

In a reprise of the battle to save the Franklin River, rural and urban communities are uniting to oppose plans by the Queensland state government to construct a dam across the Mary River. David White asked Steve Posselt about the campaign.