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LNP Member for Burnett Messenger, Independent Member for Gladstone Cunningham, Qld Premier Bligh, Qld Water Minister Wallace, Qld Opposition leader Springborg, Qld Shadow Water Minister Cripps, Qld Shadow Environment Minister Gibson.

As a voter in the upcoming Qld State Election, I am very concerned that Baffle Creek may be dammed, and support Friends of the Baffle Basin's campaign to Keep Baffle Flowing Free.

I believe that Premier Anna Bligh’s declaration that the Baffle would not be dammed during her time as premier is helpful, and I am grateful for her support. However, it obviously needs to be written into legislation for the sake of future generations, not just for the life of this government. A likely fit is the Queensland government’s ‘Wild Rivers Program’.

Baffle Creek's crucial location in highly populated SE Qld means that its near pristine nature is under much more threat than the previously nominated rivers (in remote Cape York and Fraser Island). Feeding on to the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and the northern end of the Great Sandy Marine Park is further justification for careful management of the Baffle Creek Basin.

The numerous National Parks in the Baffle Basin have allowed fishing and other nature-based tourism activities to prosper, and the declaration of Baffle Creek as a Wild River will ensure the future of these important industries. The natural and cultural values indicative of a "Wild River" are all present.

It is time to use the flexible nature of the Wild Rivers program, allowing for greater human impact, to protect the more developed rivers like Baffle Creek that are under threat now.

Finally, I understand the pressure governments are under to provide water solutions to local constituents - in particular, industry. But further centralisation of water supplies is not sustainable. In this era of radical climate change it is important that we decrease the cost of water both financially and environmentally. Our past paradigms of shipping water from a centralised inland store whilst heavy rainfall areas on the coast wash trillions of litres of water off roofs and roads into the ocean is inefficient, expensive and tragically killing our beaches and marine life.

Stormwater harvesting is the common sense of the future, and I urge all levels of government to not only fast-track large scale plans but also to continue to offer incentives and education to move to more decentralised storage and capture methods and greater individual responsibility for sustainable water use.