Our celebration of the end of Joh was justified but perhaps a bit premature.

Remember Hanson broke away from the Libs and was showered with votes.

Molloy may not generate the same 'Joan of Arc' political magnatism but by golly she deserves the vote of everyone who believes that key components of Queensland democracy are held hostage by the Labor party machine men (and women).

Go Cate Go!

Queensland democracy! What is democracy, when Party Politics is the Rule? I understood the question of where to build the next dam in Queensland should be In an area that Water could be best used for the most “Production, both Rural & Industrial,” developing this great land of ours.

Further Urban Development in the South East is just developing further possible ghettos, where Unemployment, or Underemployment is Rife.

The Nathan Dam would have been a better bet, then the Centralized Focus on the Metropolitan Sprawl of the Great South East. Good on Ms Molloy for standing firmwith her beliefs. To the Great Mr Beattie, remember this, every puppy has his Day.

I met with Cate at the environmental day at Eumundi the Sunday before her last week in parliament. She had a stall next to ours (save the Mary River--No dams)and collected the local Cooroy Rag, the Carters Ridge Paper, the Mary Valley voice and the Eco News.

She spent no less than an hour discussing our environmental concerns and spent the rest of the day discussing with the visiting public their views on the environmental impact of this Dam. She has genuine concern for the views of her constituents and was very brave to represent us.I admire her as do many.

As for Mr Steve Madden,

I work in The Noosa shire.

Many of my customers, like other businesses in the Noosa Shire, have either staff from this area or know people from this area or do business with the people from this Dammed area or in fact enjoy recreational pursuits in this area. In the past 6 weeks I have not heard one person ( except you) come forward for this Dam.

Use your imagination as to what this shallow dam will actually look like. It will not be increasing you property value if that is your motivation. Thankfully the general population of Noosa are not so selfish or short sighted and do genuinely care for the environment.Hence they will forgive Cate for her love of "nudity" as she stands for the views of the majority.

Sustainable

I have never said if I was in favour or a Dam or not.

Noosa shire is very different to the state electorate of Noosa. I live in Coolum in Maroochy Shire but I am in Cate’s electorate.

The majority of voters in the electorate live in Coolum, Peregian, Peregian Springs, Sunshine Beach, Sunrise Beach, Noosaville and Noosa Heads. (Look at the polling booths) These people are sea changers and wealthy ones at that. The issue of the Dam is irrelevant to them, as it is to me. If Ms Molloy thinks she will win an election based on her opposition to the Dam she if off with the pixies. She will only split the vote and reduce the Greens vote. With optional preferential voting labor will find it hard to loose its 8% margin.

If you have concerns about Noosa Shire how about starting with untreated sewage and recycling of garbage. The perceived Green Noosa Council is a farce, the only thing green about Noosa is the paint on the roads they call cycle paths.

If you got out a bit more and talked to people who don’t read eco-news you may hear the other side of the story.

Steve Maddern (http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=4591#45024),

The issue of the dam should be of concern to more than just simply the residents in the directly affected areas. The damage that these dams will cause the environment adds further to the cumulative damage done to the global life support system.

At some point we are going to have to stop growing Queensland's population, if, in order to do so, it is necessary to go on damming rivers and clearing more and more trees. I would say we are already well past the point where growth should have been stopped.

As for meeting the needs of Queensland's population, at its current level as a result of the reckless population growth policies of Peter Beattie and his predecessors, other measures such as a comprehensive program to make rainwater tanks available to the people of Queensland should be tried. The fact that the concerned Minister, Henry Palaszczuk (pronounced something like 'palloshay') was not even informed before the decision to build the dams were announced, shows just how ill-considered the decision was.

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I am still scratching my head trying to understand from the story you gave me at:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1651506.htm

... what she had actually done to warrant her being barred from Surf Live Saving clubs. It states that:

"... she and her husband have been banned from all surf clubs over a fight about a famous nude painting."

Whatever that might mean, it seems completely trivial compared to the issues of preventing environmental vandalism and making our governments accountable to the people they supposedly represent.