NSW deputy premier savaged for fighting dam-building ‘culture war’ during floods disaster

Sydney's Warragamba Dam spillway outflow could peak at 60 to 80 gigalitres a day, as the flood crisis continues across New South Wales. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

The New South Wales deputy premier, Paul Toole, has been accused of using the state’s flood disaster to “guilt-trip” critics of the Coalition government’s proposal to expand and build new dams.

Labor, the Greens and independent MPs have rebuked Toole who used a press conference about the flooding emergency on Wednesday to address opposition to projects such as the proposed raising of the Warragamba Dam wall.