12:00a.m. 19th September 2007

| By Peter Gardiner

Marcoola Beach, one of the sites under consideration for a desalination plant (Photo: Chris McCormack) and what the Coast could be: The Jubail desalination plant in Saudi Arabia.

Peregian, Marcoola and Bribie Island are to be considered as sites for a second desalination plant, says Member for Noosa Glen Elmes.

The Liberal MP yesterday challenged the state government to come clean about a secret report to secure water supplies for south-east Queensland.

“I have received specific advice that the locations being considered are Stradbroke Island, mouth of the Brisbane River, Bribie Island, Marcoola and Peregian Beach,” he said.

“The information provided to me comes from an impeccable source and I call on the Deputy Premier, Paul Lucas, to bring forward the release of the report and, more importantly, to discount possible locations such as Peregian and Marcoola.”

Mr Elmes said any moves to put a plant similar to the one under construction at Tugun here on the Coast would be disaster.

“Can you imagine what it would do to a little coastal village like Peregian, surrounded by national park?” Mr Elmes said.

“A plant like that at Tugun would be about the size of a football field, would cost $1.2 billion and would have to be as close to the shoreline as possible to accommodate the two pipes required to be built under the seabed – one for water intake and the other to discharge the saline solution back into the ocean.”

Mr Elmes said he believed such a plant would be powered by normal Energex supplies, and would create a massive drain on the network and help generate greenhouse gases.

“This is not a project that residents of the Noosa electorate want to see built in Peregian or anywhere else on the Sunshine Coast, and is a direct result of the Bligh-Beattie Government’s failure to plan and spend adequately on infrastructure across the south-east.”

He said even a plant at the mouth of the Brisbane River would have a negative impact on Moreton Bay.

Mr Elmes believed the study sites would be released in two weeks.

Premier Anna Bligh yesterday said construction of the Tugun plant was tracking well and there had been no decision made to proceed with any other plant.

“The Queensland Water Commission is just doing its planning job and not committing the government. It has a draft desktop study which has identified a number of potential sites for further future investigation,” Ms Bligh said.

“These sites will be subject to further examination based on cost, power supply, and interconnection into existing water and power networks.

“While it is unlikely we will need to use these possible sites, a prudent government always plans over the horizon.”

Ms Bligh said proposals offered to the government in recent weeks for emergency-response planning included large mobile desalination plants being parked in rivers or waterways.