The CIA predicted that the politics of
water would be one of the defining issues of the 21st century. Although often
decried as a backwater itself, Queensland is leading the way in making this
prediction come true. SEQ Councils argue over water restrictions and a proposed
water grid, Toowoomba is riven by blog wars about recycled water, and Peter
Beattie’s health woes are now largely overshadowed by coverage of controversies
over two new dams.

Conflicts about natural resources are often
perceived as being amenable to technical and scientific resolution. But science
might be the least important factor in public policy decisions on water. Water,
for SEQ residents, is now literally a parish pump issue. People worry about how
long they shower, public fountains are drained, and commercial TV news shows
abound with stories of intrepid gardeners laboriously carrying buckets out to
their roses.

Nationals leader Lawrence Springborg can’t take a trick on this issue, as with
many others. The Nationals are torn between promising to build dams elsewhere
and claiming the scientific evidence doesn’t add
up. Why build more dams when water isn’t falling in the catchments?

But Peter Beattie is providing an object
lesson in how to look like a leader. A poll conducted for The Australian shows
that 82% of respondents want more dams. The Greens and other dam opponents have
to try to communicate a complex message about water grids and recycling. But
they also risk looking like NIMBYs.

Meanwhile Beattie plays the card of
community consultation, “rescuing” Rathdowney residents at the last
minute. Beattie also knows that the voters who count, those living in parched
Brisbane, want to see something done. And they don’t want to hear about the
emotive issue of drinking recycled water. So he sends a clear message out,
while opponents spray mixed signals all over the place. The jobs created in
construction won’t hurt either. The Beattie Government’s response may well be a
triumph of short-term and show over science. But the short term is an election
which must be held in the next year.

If the response to the water crisis is
going to be science and evidence driven rather than politically manipulated,
anti-dam crusaders are going to have to get smarter in distilling a simple
message.