Warren Entsch, the Federal Member for Leichhardt, is continuing to apply pressure for the installation of mains power north of the Daintree, and is highlighting the need for the Queensland State Government to be clear about the next steps.

In a recent speech to Parliament, he said this is the only community in Australia where a state government legislated to prohibit the establishment of mains power for a community of close to 1,000 people.

And by all accounts, Daintree residents have been stonewalled by both the Queensland Government and Ergon Energy.

“Simply put, we are in an outrageous situation. We are being forced to source our own power and pay for the infrastructure,” said Russell O’Doherty, chair of the Daintree Rainforest Power Committee.

“There has been considerable correspondence between us, the appropriate ministers, the premier’s office and it is our belief that the Queensland Government appears to be ‘duck-shoving’ by saying that it is an Ergon issue.

“However, Ergon, in a letter to Mr Entsch, said that the Daintree region would not be included within Ergon Energy’s Distribution Authority and any future electricity supply solutions for the community will be at no cost to Ergon Energy,” said O’Doherty.  

In his letter to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, O’Doherty explained the challenges faced when you are solely reliant on generators for power.

“The stress is enormous when you constantly worry about having enough fuel to keep the generators going to charge the batteries. You are constantly checking to see if the batteries have enough charge in them in the evening to make sure that the power does not drop out during the night. 

“You are concerned if the generator is going to start, or what to do if the inverter, generator or batteries break down; as there is only one tradesperson in the community that actually knows about solar systems and he is usually away working,” he said.

RELATED COVERAGE:
<link new-power-plant-key-to-business-survival.13581.0.html>New power plant key to business survival

Entsch, who is also Chair of the Joint Select Committee on Northern Australia, cited a number of examples of people affected by the lack of power.

“There is a family who purchased a local cafe and spent more than $80,000 in renovations and new equipment at the start of the 2015 season. Four months later they had to close the business because the takings did not even cover the cost of the fuel running the generator.

“Coconut Beach Resort was the only 4½-star offering in the Daintree. It is now derelict. We also lost other big businesses up there: the Fan Palm, Dragonfly and Jambu cafes were all forced to close because of the power issue. 

“Cow Bay Hotel has been in receivership twice in three years with successive owners. One of the main reasons is the high cost of running generators,” said Entsch.

Entsch added that some of the arguments why the Daintree does not have power beggars belief.

“It is quite amazing. There is an argument that it’s in the interest of conservation. That interest in conservation means it sees hundreds of diesel generators thumping away, burning diesel day in and day out to provide basic power needs. There is a huge cost not only to the environment but also to those citizens living there,” he said.

A few years ago, the Daintree community carried out an in-depth fuel survey and found that the community used approximately three million litres of fuel in a single year.

O’Doherty said he and his committee are looking at options and one involves a Californian company ECO-GEN Energy which has developed the JouleBox, a Hybrid Generator which they believe will change the world forever. For more information, go to www.ecogenenergy.info/about

“We have to look at what is available, but there is always a cost involved and unless we can get the State Government on board, nothing will change,” he said.