Steve Posselt Continues on his Murray…. No, Mary…. Way

Murray-Darling kayaker Steve Posselt again took to the waters on Saturday. Launching from West End in Brisbane, he began what will be a 29 day paddle up the Brisbane and Stanley Rivers, down the Mary River, returning to Brisbane via the Great Sandy Strait in the lee of Fraser Island.

The trip, dubbed “Don’t Murray the Mary” is to focus attention on the unwillingness of both the Queensland Government and the Queensland Water Commission to examine alternatives to the Traveston Crossing Dam.

Recently the Water Commission released its fifty year plan for water for south-east Queensland but it began with Traveston Dam, both Stage One and Stage Two as givens, even though they have yet to receive the necessary federal environment approvals.

The plan then places Traveston and Wyaralong as the last dams to be built in the south-east corner before becoming more reliant on sources like desalination. Steve is no newcomer to the water industry having spent more than three decades as a water engineer and is a Past President of the Australian Water Association.

He was farewelled on his kayak epic by a crowd of well-wishers, many from the Mary Valley as well as members of the Gubbi Gubbi people led by Dr Eve Fesl, who have refused to accept what they dub a “state government bribe” to relinquish native title claims over the area.

Democrat Senator Andrew Bartlett, who was part of last year’s Senate Enquiry which found that the dam should not go ahead, spoke both eloquently and passionately against the proposal before launching Steve on his way.

It will be almost a week before Steve will manually tow his kayak up the steep slopes of the Conondale Ranges that separate the Stanley and Mary catchments and descend to enter the Mary River near Conondale in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

Steve plans to be at Traveston Crossing on Sunday April 27 to be part of a canoe “floatilla” to mark the second anniversary of the dam announcement.


Steve Posselt’s contact – 0438 138 982
April 27 Anniversary Flotilla contact – Glenda Pickersgill (07) 5484 3150 or 0411 443 589

Regular updates as well as a map and rough itinerary are available on http://www.kayak4eart.com/

Release by Ian Mackay ( imackay@bne.catholic.edu.au ) & Arkin Mackay (arkin@stoppress.com.au )

Kayaker Joins the Fight:
'Don’t Let the Mary Become the Murray!'

LAST year when river campaigner Steve Posselt set out on his epic journey by foot and kayak from Brisbane to Adelaide via the Murray-Darling, he entered a world of unknowns.

For four months he paddled and walked, often dragging his wheeled kayak behind him as he wound his way through four states of Australia.

Steve plans to be at Traveston Crossing for the second anniversary of the State Government’s dam decision on April 27 when he will draw the media spotlight to the heart of the fight to save the Mary River.

He will then continue downstream through Maryborough, the Great Sandy Strait in the lee of Fraser Island, before paddling southward along the coast and back to Brisbane. The entire trip is estimated to take five weeks.

Steve’s earlier trip down the Murray-Darling system gave his Australian audience a fascinating journey as he made regular reports on the state of the rivers and spoke at many venues along the way.

The former water engineer is passionate about rivers and educating people about climate change, and it is this that fuelled the trip and turned him into a modern day adventurer.

Steve reached Adelaide at the end of September and is now turning his attention to the Mary River near Gympie where, despite massive opposition, the State Government is forging ahead with plans to build the Traveston Crossing Dam.

But Steve’s “involvement” amounts to much more than lobbying or letter writing. On April 12, he and his kayak will depart Brisbane paddling up the Brisbane River, across Wivenhoe Dam then across Somerset Dam on the Stanley River.

A gruelling walk with kayak will be necessary as Steve climbs out of the Stanley catchment near Woodford, climbs to Bellthorpe at the southern end of the Conondale Ranges and descends into the upper catchment of the Mary.

As with the Murray trip, Steve will maintain a regularly updated website on his travels and it is anticipated he will be joined by other paddlers along the way.

His message is plain. He can see the writing on the wall about climate change and its impact on our traditional methods of water supply and sees as sheer folly the addition of another dam when dams across Australia have been letting us down.

When he adds peak oil to the equation, he just shakes his head at the wisdom of flooding good farming land near urban centres when there are less expensive, more reliable alternatives.

Before setting out, Steve will give three presentations on his Murray Darling expedition as fund-raisers for the Mary trip: Noosa at the J on April 2 at 7.30pm, Gympie Civic Centre on April 3 at 7.30pm and Maryborough Town Hall on April 4 at 7.30pm.


Media contacts: Steve Posselt 0438 138 982
Ian Mackay 54460124
Kaili Parker-Price 0419 672947

GMA Public Meeting

Tell Everyone About It!

The next campaign public meeting for the Greater Mary Association will be held this coming Monday (February 18th) at the Maryborough Town Hall, commencing at 7.30pm.

It should be an informative night. As well as updating everyone on GMA activities, we will also be welcoming Chair of the Save the Mary River Coordinating Group, Kevin Ingersole, and other key campaigners, to speak about the Save the Mary campaign and plans for the future. They will be more than happy to answer any of your questions and to hear your concerns. So please come along. We’d love to see you there!

For more information email the GMA - greatermary@gmail.com

Market Stalls, Environmental Displays, Children's Tent

Singing and Drumming Workshops, Music, Green Tent,

Food, Buskers, Global Village and more ...

Headlining Band 'Wild Marmalade' (from Byron Bay) at 7.30 pm

For more information contact Vicki Shapcott 5482 7535

or Joolie Gibbs 5481 0733

Australia Day - Celebrating our Beach Lifestyle

This year as Fraser Coast residents and visitors celebrated their national day, it was also a chance to rally support to protect our coastal environment and inform the community about the threat it now faces.

Members of the Greater mary Association (GMA) joined forces with Trevor the Mary River Turtle and bikini clad teenagers at a stall in Urangan's Pier Park on Saturday evening to provide the community with information and the opportunity to voice their concerns about the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam.

It was the first Fraser Coast appearance of the 'NO DAM' bikini (supplied by the Save the Mary River Coordinating Group) which proved to be an ideal symbol for the Hervey Bay campaign, representing our coastal lifestyle and helping to reinforce the very real connection between the proposed dam and the future of our seaside community. Thanks Chantelle and Sam for showing them off so well and getting so many submissions signed in the process!

The event was a chance to gather more submissions and letters to forward to the Federal Environment Minister, amongst others, in response to the Environmental Impact Statement released by QWI late last year. Although the deadline for submissions to the Coordinator General closed on the 14th, there will be no stopping the flood of comment that will continue to be produced and posted to the Federal and State Governments until the dam proposal is squashed once and for all.

Celebrations at Kandanda Pub

A crowd of campaigners and campaign supporters gathered at the Kandanga pub on Thursday night to celebrate a major hurdle in the fight against the Traveston Crossing Dam - responding to the EIS.

The deadline for submissions to the Coordinator-General was Monday (January 14) and a fantastic effort was made by all. A total of more than 16,000 submissions were made from people all over the south-east Queensland.

On the Fraser Coast the Greater Mary Association (GMA), with the help of an army of volunteers, organised the signing of around 10,000, mainly short submissions, along with hundreds of letters to Andrew Macnamara (Member for Hervey Bay), Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett and Federal Minister for Climate Change Penny Wong.

"The farcical and flawed Environmental Impact Statement contemptuously dismissed any impacts downstream of the proposed dam," said the Chairman of the GMA, Darryl Stewart. "This response sends a clear message to the State Government that their jackboot approach will not be tolerated.

Indigenous Community Outraged

Anger over the State Government's lack of consultation with indigenous groups about the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam has been simmering among members of the Owens Clan of the Butchulla tribe in Hervey Bay.

The State Government has considered the Butchulla community 'irrelevant' and has excluded them from the consultation process, on the pretext that no part of the dam construction would be on Butchulla land, even though the Terms of Reference (TOR) does not restrict the consideration of cultural heritage to the dam footprint area.

This has been taken as a grave insult by members of the Fraser Coast Butchulla community.

The Mary River is considered by all Butchulla people to be the life-blood of their country and they feel the dam poses a threat to the survival of their culture. Their concerns are particularly related to the impacts a reduction of environmental flows from the Mary would have on the Strait, and how changes in the river would affect sacred sites and traditional practices. They are acutely aware of the importance of floods, both large and small, for river and estuary health. The affects of infrastructure already existing on the river have been keenly observed, and the feeling is unanimous that a further reduction in flows would be devastating for both the estuary and Butchulla culture in general.

Key members of the Owen's Clan in Hervey Bay have voiced their outrage in a submission responding to the EIS. A copy of this will soon be available on ourgreatsandy.com.