The Select Committee on the Proposal to Raise the Warragamba Dam Wall met today to elect their Chair and Deputy Chair, and the results are in… Mr Justin Field MLC has been elected as Chair, with the Hon Rod Roberts MLC as Deputy Chair.
Below is a list of members on the committee.
| Mr Justin Field (Chair) | Independent |
| Hon Rod Roberts (Deputy Chair) | Pauline Hanson’s One Nation |
| Hon Trevor Khan | The Nationals |
| Hon Shayne Mallard | Liberal Party |
| Hon Taylor Martin | Liberal Party |
| Hon Adam Searle | Australian Labor Party |
| Hon Penny Sharpe | Australian Labor Party |
The committee was established in late June to look at the government’s proposal to raise the Warragamba Dam wall with a focus on:
- Conflicting reports on the planning height for the dam wall raising
- Plans for future property development on flood prone land
- Engagement between the government and the UNESCO
- The adequacy of the environmental impact statement to date
- The nature and extent of the examination of alternative options for flood management
- The flood risk assessment and proposed flood management of the region
- The estimated cost of the project and funding sources.
This isn’t the first time the Warragamba Dam has been the subject of a committee inquiry. Late last year, the Standing Committee on State Development held an inquiry into the Water NSW Amendment (Warragamba Dam) Bill 2018. This select committee will also look at the implementation of recommendations from last year’s inquiry.
More details are available in the select committee’s terms of reference. If you’d like to have your say, submissions close on Tuesday 10 September 2019. A guide on how to write an effective submission can be found here.