Ire over dams not 'worth the fight'
NATIONALS Senator Barnaby Joyce says the Coalition has no intention of building dams in areas where there is fierce opposition.
A leaked Coalition draft discussion paper containing proposals for up to 100 dams reignited debate this week.
But Senator Joyce said a Coalition government would not dam the Clarence River because it was "not worth the political fight".
"The message that we get back loud and clear from that area is that they don't want it," Senator Joyce said.
"We quite obviously are vastly more inclined to go to areas where they want it."
Senator Joyce said people in places such as the Gulf, were "climbing over each other" to get dams built.
He was deputy chairman of the Coalition taskforce that spent the past two years visiting potential dam sites.
The commitment not to dam the Clarence came after Nationals Leader Warren Truss and the party's Page candidate Kevin Hogan gave the same assurance on Thursday.
They were forced to do so after it was revealed dam proposals for the Clarence and Mann rivers were in the discussion paper.
