State Election March 21

In under three years,  the Traveston Dam has gone from being "just a nimby issue", through being "a David and Goliath struggle" to the point where the ABC places it as Number two in the state's  election issues, second only to Queensland's  crumbling economy..

That said,  the  next three weeks represent a picture window of opportunity which will never return.

Last state election,  we were but young.  Many  were convinced the dam announcement  was an election stunt that  would  be retracted after a  short shelf life.

A Senate Enquiry,  a record response to  the EIS, somehow Traveston seemed to act as something of a touchstone for a wider community  increasingly  alienated from its government. Peak environment groups  have canned the plan,  churches have come out against its heavy social impacts as have Councils up and down the river.

It never stacked up well economically, even in the good  times, but Queenslanders are coming to ask why a government would  shell  out some  $570m to  a project that has get to  get the necessary federal approvals.

The money put in upfront of  the approvals  accounts for almost 40% of the State's deficit.

In  an election where the government seeks to don  the mantle of  better money managers, this is  not a good look. This isn't our last chance but  with a turn of speed,  a good  deal of enduranced and even a dash of savvy, we can give this a damn good  nudge.  

I  reckon we've got the ticker.