Since "silly old Joh" got kicked out in disgrace, a succession of lightweight Labor governments have coasted along, buoyed by the royalties from the mines that Joh and Les Thiess initiated, and the rail freight on Joh's electrified lines, while the Labor stronghold of Townsville has weathered droughts only with the backup of Joh's memorial, the Burdekin Dam. What does Qld have to show for the time since Joh... apart from an unsafe dam on the Burnett River, with problems that are too serious to discuss but bad enough to need to dump an awful lot of irrigation water. (Thanks Pete!) Maybe Qld dam designers and builders need a bit more practice?
