Dam fight looms on compensation

Press, 4 July 1983, Page 9

Dam fight looms on compensation

inzba Canberra The opening shots are now being fired as new battle lines over the Franklin dam dispute are drawn on the issue of compensation.

The Prime Minister, Mr Hawke, said yesterday that the assertion by the Tasmanian Premier , Mr Robin Gray, that compensation would exceed $5OO million was only a guess.

There is a disagreement on what proportion of the money already spent should be reimbursed, but a more fundamental divergence arises on longer-term aspects. Mr Gray has said that the Federal Government is committed to open-ended funding of alternative production for the amount of electricity the dam would have produced after about 1991.

However, Mr Hawke restated yesterday that the over-all level of compensation could not be calculated until the “level and sources” of the state’s future electricity needs were studied. Projections of Tasmania’s

future power demand have during the course of the Franklin debate, been an area of central dispute. Critics of the scheme argued that forecasts by the state hydro-electric commission were greatly overestimated.

To a large extent such calculations swing on Tasmia’s potential, or lack of it, to attract powerintensive industry. On the more immediate question of compensation for preparatory work already done, the scope for a new row is also wide.

An expenditure figure commonly used until recently by Tasmanian Government officials was about $3O million, but Mr Gray is now citing a figure of $6O million.

He justifies this by taking into account design and planning costs as well as inbuilt features of earlier power projects which assumed construction of the Franklin dam. Mr Hawke has said that consideration would have to be given to excluding from compensation completed work that still had a long-

term value. A task force of Federal and state officials is being set up to deal with these issues and immediate alternative work projects. Mr Hawke has suggested that the Commonwealth chair this working group and that disputes which cannot be resolved be dealt with by himself and Mr Gray.

Mr Hawke emphasised yesterday in a written statement that there would be full consultation with state officials. “The Federal Government will ensure that Tasmania is properly compensated for the decision to halt the Gordon-below-Franklin dam and again assures the workers involved that their employment needs will be met,” he said’ Central areas of discussion will no doubt revolve round what constitutes proper compensation and how long the dam workers should be guaranteed employment. One representative of the dam workers has demanded an undertaking of jobs for 10 years.