The election campaign may be into its second week, but until last night's televised Leaders Debate, it was flying low on the radar for most Western Australians.
Less than 24 hours ago this election seemed to be a choice between tweedle-dull and tweedle-duller. Now, with the help of an event equivalent to a Chernobyl-style meltdown inside of Colin Barnett's cranium, duller has become moronic, if not certifiably insane!
Of course, I'm talking about the Coalition (or is it just the crazy Libs?) promise to build the world's longest canal from the Kimberley to Perth, a distance of around 3700km. But it is not an original idea - the ALP set about investigating the concept last year (see the Guardian report here).
What is incredulous, is not that the idea has been raised (every option is valid until proven invalid) - the real problem is that Barnett used the Leaders Debate to publicly commit (presumably as a core promise) to the $2bn project without even so much as a feasibility report!!
As reported by the ABC:
Jorg Imberger, from the Centre for Water Research at the University of Western Australia, says Mr Barnett's policy is premature.
"Technically, a proposal like that is feasible, but whether it is economic or not is totally another question," he said.
Not just economically - what about environmentally? What effect will such a project have on native wildlife when it effectively creates a barrier between coastal and inland WA? What will be the effect of increased agriculture due to the proposed irrigation schemes along its path?
And why, oh why, should we use pristine clear water to supply industry, while many of our regional communities lack suitable potable water? If they do intend to use this resource for domestic supply, how will they guarantee the safety of the supply? At least with a sealed pipe (the much maligned Ernie Bridge proposal) it is more secure from deliberate or accidental contamination.
So many questions, so few answers. But at least it has a bit more credibility than the idea proposed by a former Democrat candidate who, quite a while ago, suggested towing an iceberg from Antarctica! :-)
If there was anything that might put a stop to the Libs gaining Government, this commitment just might do it. The ALP are probably celebrating already.
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