From the Daily Telegraph:
UP to 100 dams could be built across the country to prevent floods, fuel power stations and irrigate a food boom to feed 120 million people across the Asia Pacific region, under plans being considered by Opposition leader Tony Abbott.
In the second high-level policy leak in a week, The Daily Telegraph has obtained a copy of the Coalition’s draft policy discussion paper for water management of Australia.
Included in the list of dam projects, which the Coalition will consider, is a $500 million plan to raise Warragamba Dam in Sydney, and new dams for NSW in the Hunter Valley, Central Highlands and along the Lachlan River.
The majority of the dams would be in northern Australia, where they would be used to irrigate arid zones for agriculture and more than double Australia’s food production.
It’s good to see the Coalition discussing infrastructure investment for a change, even if it appears to be a recycling of the Menzies chestnut of irrigating the desert. The plan makes general sense, building infrastructure to develop new export opportunities, and overcoming the volatility of northern rainfall for farming using dams and irrigation.
Whether it makes actual sense I don’t know. It will only cost $30 billion, apparently. A lot of money to be sure but not for 100 dams. If leveraged up with private sector investment it may be different.
However, given the current parlous state of public private partnerships and the inability to get even basic and highly trafficked projects off the ground in metropolitan centres, I can’t help wondering about the economics of 100 dams. Even private investment in the hydro-electric component seems optimistic given the huge distances to the major markets for power. The resistance and corona loss for power in transmission over such vast distances would be formidable. This is why most cities have local power grids.
I can’t help wondering as well if the $30 billion price tag, as a perfect match for the NBN, isn’t some sort of political calculus. And the vague “vision thing” of this plan also seems to carry the finger-prints of media folk.
But who knows? All such projects are considered crazy in advance. At this stage, given it’s no more than a thought balloon, I will reserve judgement.
