Larissa Waters: Vote Green in Brisbane Central
Sat 2 Sep 2006
For the 2006 Queensland state election next Saturday, a very good friend of our family, Larissa Waters, is standing for The Greens in Brisbane Central, Premier Peter Beattie’s electorate.
In the past, some may have dismissed Green candidates as ageing hippies with out-of-touch ideas. With Larissa, that stereotype goes right out the window.
I can confirm that Larissa is a very intelligent lady. She is an environmental lawyer who is passionate about her work, values ecological sustainability above unchecked development and has thought the issues through.
For example, with the reality of water shortages staring us in the face, she has done the cost-benefit analysis. Larissa can tell you exactly how much better-off the community will be if the government provides financial support for households to adopt water conservation measures, instead of spending its money on damming valuable rivers.
The same goes for the Greens policies on urban development, energy conservation, transport, accountability in government, et al.
No 1 son’s initial reaction when he heard that Larissa was campaigning in Premier Peter Beattie’s electorate was “Oh No. What a waste. Why doesn’t she stand in an electorate where she might have a chance?“
But, as it turns out, she is the perfect person, with the help of the voters of Brisbane Central, to take the message of ecological sustainability right up to our Premier and his next government.
Brisbane Central candidates’ public debate
In fact, Larissa has organised a public debate of all Brisbane Central candidates. Voters in the Brisbane Central electorate are invited to attend, free of charge.
- 6-8pm on Tuesday 5th September
- Ithaca Hall, corner Kennedy & Enoggera Terrace, Paddington
And what if there is a change of government?
Well then, environmental issues might not get a look in at all. Not unless an awful lot of us Vote 1 for our Greens candidate and then give our second preference to another party.
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Update: 22 Feb 07
Larissa now has her own website (www.larissawaters.net) where she has announced her candidacy for Senate Preselection for the Queensland Greens. 2007 is shaping up as a year where we can all make a difference.
September 2nd, 2006 at 14:57
Well… clearly I would suggest putting Labor as #2 if you are voting Green, but leaving that for a second…
Inner city seats in Melbourne and Sydney are often Green versus Labor competitions now… there is no reason for Brisbane to not head the same way eventually, as it gets more progressive… it’s not a bad place to be for a Green. The best in Queensland, I would suspect.
By the way, Labor is pouring a lot of money into water conservation measures for houses. There are all sorts of rebates in place now for water efficient devices. The problem, as I understand it, is that these measures alone will not conserve enough water. I am still interested in alternative views… and I think that recycled water is an excellent idea, if done using reverse osmosis (as was proposed in Toowoomba).
September 2nd, 2006 at 23:49
Why have the Greens backed off their campaign for drinking recycled water during this campaign? Larissa’s campaign speech talks about greywater reuse (nothing wrong with that) but nothing about drinking recycled water. After all the fuss the Greens made about the Toowoomba referendum (including busing people up there to hand out voting cards), have they backed off the issue because it’s not a vote winner?
September 4th, 2006 at 11:24
Stuart: Thanks for the insight.
Will: good question. Will try to find out.
Sherdie: Thanks for the post on Brisvegas Bloggers.
September 4th, 2006 at 22:47
What’s her policy on desalination/water recycling? I wish I was in this electorate - it might be nice to vote for a politician who was committed and who I thought might actually be a decent person instead of soul-sucking spawn of the devil
September 4th, 2006 at 23:09
Will and Boff,
No 1 priority seems to be to reduce demand (and therefore the need for desalination/water recycling) by providing rebates for backyard greywater recycling systems and rainwater tanks. These rebates would come from the budgets earmarked for the Mary River and Wyaralong Dams
If we can drink rainwater and wash our cars with our shower/laundry water, then our present dams can keep up. See 20 Aug 06 Press Release.
Cheers — Mike
September 5th, 2006 at 7:08
MikeFitz, thank you so much for highlighting Larissa’s campaign.
I have assisted numerous Green campaigns here in the Sunshine State since 1993, including the 1996 Senate campaign and now Larissa’s bid for Brisbane Central.
I can honestly say the Larissa Waters is without doubt the most outstanding candidate we’ve ever run in Brisbane Central. She is smart, dedicated to the environment, and one of the most disciplined hard working candidates I’ve had the pleasure to work with.
Larissa’s committment to protecting the environment caused her to leave a big law firm several years ago to work as a public environmental lawyer, giving free legal advice to small conservation groups taking on Queensland’s notorious white shoe developer brigade as well as our dam-mad state government.
Larissa is a candidate for the 21st century, whereas PowerPoint Pete is clearly out of solutions for the big challenges we face on water, energy, biodiversity, and public accountability.
September 5th, 2006 at 11:22
Dear Stuart, Will and Boff,
Thanks for your interest in the Greens excellent policies, which are about proactive planning for the long term future, not just on water but also on climate change, economic development, health, education and transport (and others - see our website www.qld.greens.org.au). I am very proud to be a candidate representing these sensible, responsible policies!
In answer to your questions about water recycling, we support purifying wastewater and adding to our dams for eventual drinking, as long as the process includes a risk management framework and water quality standards (to 6 star level, which is cleaner than water which comes out of our taps now) and is consistent with the existing Qld Water Recycling Guidelines. We think that water saving by industry, households and government is the first step, but that recycling is also necessary.
The way we propose to achieve water savings is by government subsidies for households and industry to fit rainwater tanks (for indoor use, not drinking) and also greywater recycling units (for outdoor use). We also say that industry should not be wasting good drinking water when it could be using recycled water so our policy mandates a target of 40% per capita reduction of industrial water use. We also will mandate a 60% reduction (to increase to 80% by 2010) in water use in all new greenfield development sites by using water saving devices.
Stuart notes that Beattie is also supporting water saving devices in homes. Unfortunately it’s tokenistic, as the rebates are miniscule and the target is only for one quarter of Brisbane homes to have rainwater tanks, and there is no mention of greywater recycling. In my view Beattie has an edifice complex and feels he has to commit to building a new dam before people will think he is solving the water crisis. Unfortunately, new dams at Traveston on the Mary River and Wyaralong on the Logan River will cost billions, not be built until 2011, probably never be full, will send the lungfish, Mary River cod and turtle towards extinction, and will unnecessarily displace families by flooding hundreds of homes.
The Greens have done the costings and can prove that with a combination of water conservation, capture and re-use of urban stormwater (rain water that runs off roofs which currently flows down the gutters into the sea, unused), and purified wastewater for industry and to add to dams for eventual drinking, we have enough water to sustain SEQ without building new dams.
I hope that answers your questions, and feel free to ask any more!
I hope the Greens have your support on election day!
PS If any of you are in the Brisbane Central area, come to the public debate tonight at Ithaca Hall in Paddington, 6-8pm (see Mike’s note above) for a question and answer session with the candidates! The Premier is sending the Mt Coot-tha MP and the Liberals are not coming at all, but I think people will still have a good opportunity to air their concerns and get some answers.
September 5th, 2006 at 20:06
Larissa
First, good luck kicking some Beattie butt. He deserves a tough challenge.
On a couple of your points:
The ‘6 star rating’ for recycled water has no real basis. It is just something conceived by the AWA.
One problem with the existing Qld Water Recycling Guidelines is that they currently do NOT contemplate recycled water for drinking.
Would you support the addition of 25-29% recycled water to Wivenhoe Dam, as was proposed for Toowoomba?
How would you deal with the 30mgs/l of TDS which gets through the membranes in a RO system (yes it does!)? How do you deal with scientists who say it’s not clear what effect small levels of residual chemicals will have over time and what effect combinations of these chemicals will have?
Don’t get me wrong - I’m NOT in favour of Beattie’s dams. I just think there we need to think smarter about non-potable uses for recycled water before asking people to drink it. If you look at the US examples closely, this is what they are doing.
I do agree with your industry recycled water policy.
Good luck on Saturday!
September 13th, 2006 at 18:57
I gave the Greens my second preference, as per usual
The Beattie Government is also offering discounts on water saving devices, and the fitting of these devices. There are also pipelines being built to provide recycled water for industry usage. I think that is all I have to add to the above. I retain my soft spot for the Greens
February 26th, 2007 at 20:40
Larissa Waters,
I have tried to send a mail message to you but get a error message returned.
Please supply a Mail Address that works.
Regards,
TJ
November 29th, 2007 at 10:29
larissa rocks!