A radioactive waste dump was opened by the
Queensland Government at Redbank Plains (a predominantly Labour
voting area) while the National Party was in power. One of the
election promises of the incoming Labour government was to close
the dump. A new dump was built at Esk (a predominantly National
Party voting area). One of many concerns raised at the time was
that any contamination from run-off or seepage could contaminate
Lake Wivenhoe. Lake Wivenhoe is one of Brisbane's largest
reservoirs.
Waters Of Esk
Written by Tommy Leonard 1994
There's a quiet little town in the south-east corner of
Queensland,
Where the water is clear and the soil is rich and deep.
Where children play and families go on their holidays.
And where an outrage is happening, even as we speak.
Now you may not know that right in the centre of Brisbane
Lie many years' accumulated low-grade nuclear waste.
And instead of paying the cost of safe disposal,
It's piled up beneath the Story Bridge and in tunnels under the
RBH*.
Now some bright spark with the Council, the State or the Federal
Government,
Must have realised the danger as he sat at his city desk.
He said "We've got to do something. We can't risk an
Eco-disaster...
We'd lose too many votes! Why don't we just dump it out at
Esk?"
Well the people of Esk tried to fight this
crazy decision,
On the grounds that it was obviously insane.
Because the waters of Esk feed into the drinking water of
Brisbane.
And who wants their kids to drink from a low-grade radioactive
drain?
Because it isn't just the people of Esk, you know,
Everybody from Brisbane up to the Sunshine Coast,
Could end up drinking the poisoned water of Brisbane.
'Cos when the weather gets dry and the water gets low,
They buy it and they sell it - who knows where it might flow.
Don't let them poison the drinking water of Brisbane.
Well enquiries were launched, and experts came to attest
That this project posed what they called "an acceptable
risk".
But when experts tell us everything'll be OK,
We should remember where the experts get their pay.
'Cos it was only in the nineteenth century they discovered
radioactivity,
And we've been learning more about it with every passing year!
So when they talk about "long-term" and
"low-grade", the terms are only relative.
Nobody really knows exactly what the long-term effects might be.
Because it isn't just the people of Esk, you know,
Everybody from Brisbane up to the Sunshine Coast,
Could end up drinking the poisoned water of Brisbane.
'Cos when the weather gets dry and the water gets low,
They buy it and they sell it - who knows where it might flow.
Don't let them poison the drinking water of Brisbane.
* Royal Brisbane Hospital
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