A Lesson from Mr Lee
What kind of man can take an entire nation from third-world to first-world status in a single generation? Imagine what Brisbane could be like if we had leaders with only a fraction of Lee Kuan Yew’s vision and drive!
Mr Lee’s passing this week prompted us to look into his many achievements. Did you know he cleaned up Singapore’s rivers in just 10 years? 10 years! And, when he started, they were like open sewers, stinking, filthy and lifeless. By comparison, the Brisbane River might be considered a paragon of purity.
Except it isn’t. So what’s our excuse?
We need a goal, and someone to drive it
Lee Kwan Yew, founding father of modern Singapore, is revered for many things, not least his transformation of a backward colonial outpost into an Asian ‘tiger’ economy. Sure, he was criticised for restricting civil liberties. He said his autocratic approach was necessary for political stability and economic progress.
Whatever your view of that, you cannot help but be amazed by what he did on so many fronts. As long-time advocates for better care and management of our Brisbane River, we were drawn in particular to his environmental and water quality record.
Lee’s 1970s masterplan to transform Singapore into a modern city-state recognised the urgent need to clean-up the rivers. “It should be a way of life to keep the water clean, to keep every stream, every culvert, every rivulet, free from unnecessary pollution. In ten years, let us have fishing in the Singapore River and fishing in the Kallang River. It can be done,” Prime Minister Lee said in 1977.
Sure enough, it was. The thing is, besides its strategic role, Mr Lee recognised that water would beautify Singapore’s landscape and improve Singaporeans’ quality of life. It has been a long time since any of our leaders have pursued that sort of vision and goal.
Some time back, we had Sallyanne Atkinson who, as Lord Mayor, proclaimed 1987 to be the ‘Year of the River’ and originated the concept of Brisbane as a ‘river city’. Then her successor, Jim Soorley, continued the focus on the river.
Soorley introduced the CityCat ferries, launched Riverfestival, and began to open up the river to people through the Riverwalk system. He also brought all sewage treatment up to at least secondary treatment standards and, most importantly, finally put an end to more than a century of dredging on the Brisbane River.
So what has happened since? Not a great deal. We still trumpet our ‘River City’ reputation. But our leaders are not championing the cause of the river. In 2012, water scientists raised serious concerns about the water quality along extensive stretches of the Brisbane River.
Professor John Olley, who presented the Healthy Waterways report to the government, said a major issue was the increased amount of sediment entering waterways. The same report in 2013 said hundreds of tons of soil from unprotected development sites were still washing in the Brisbane River.
Why the heck is this still going on? Does anyone ever investigate and follow-up? Have any culprits ever been prosecuted? The Oxley catchment scored an F (fail) for water quality in 2013, and managed to lift to a D- (very poor) last year.
A recent report exposed alarming increases in plastic litter. On Clean Up Australia Day, Healthy Waterways volunteers collected a staggering 300kg of litter – just at Murarrie. Over 4000 plastic pieces were collected, representing 85% of the litter! God help anyone who did that in Singapore!
Towards the end of 2013, Brisbane City Council did bring out its ‘River’s Edge Strategy’. And we praised them enthusiastically for the plan to promote and manage the river realm. But we also urged that they enact it with strong and decisive leadership and authority. We’re afraid we haven’t heard a lot about it since.
We have this appalling situation where no-one knows who is really responsible for our river. Is it Council? Is it the Department of Environment … Natural Resources … Fisheries … Transport?? It seems to be all of them, and none of them. River management remains fragmented and bereft of leadership.
In memory of Lee Kwan Yew, let’s remind our city leaders what their glossy river strategy document says: “Brisbane is the River City. Our river is a defining element of our city’s identity.”
Among all of Lee Kwan Yew’s mighty missions, Wikipedia tells us, “his attention to detail (in developing Singapore’s economy) went even to the extent of connecting it with other facets of Singapore, including the country’s extensive and meticulous tending of its international image of being a ‘Garden City’, something that has been sustained to this day.”
Where is the ‘extensive and meticulous tending’ of Brisbane’s image of being the ‘River City’? Surely someone can see, as Mr Lee did, how important that is to our city’s economic and social wellbeing.
We might have come a long way since the 60s. But after Jim Soorley, the river took a back seat. Campbell Newman was all about tunnels. Graham Quirk seems to focus more on traffic and town planning. They come up with motherhood statements and fluffy plans for river precincts, then leave it to private enterprise. No-one ever sets a goal to achieve a certain outcome, by a certain date. Everything just floats along.
What we really need is for someone in authority to get angry about the muddy, littered state of our river … like Jim Soorley did. Maybe Jim had a little of Lee Kuan Yew in him – autocratic but well-intentioned, and with a clear and beneficial vision for our city.
Brisbane is Queensland’s largest economic base. The River is our brand. If we are to be a truly great international city, we need a sparkling clean river. Heck, we probably need a Minister for the River, to make sure our waterway fulfils its huge economic-boosting, life-enriching, tourism-promoting potential.
So, let’s set a goal. What about we plan to host a Brisbane International Triathlon in 2020, or 2025? We will showcase our beautiful river to the world with athletes riding and running along its banks, and swimming in its sparkling waters between the Story Bridge and Victoria Bridge. In the words of Mr Lee, “it can be done!”
