A number of new dams could be built in Queensland, Australia, if the Liberal National Party (LNP) wins the state election on 25 November.
In its election campaign, the LNP said it will build more than $1.3 billion worth of critical water infrastructure and dams across the state, with plans to set up a Queensland Dam Company to oversee these developments.
LNP Leader Tim Nicholls said under the LNP the Urannah Dam, Nullinga Dam, Rookwood Weir and raising of the Burdekin Falls Dam will become a reality.
“We will fund and complete the planning and Environmental Impact Studies for Urannah, Nullinga and the Burdekin Falls Dam projects to get them shovel-ready,” Nicholls said. “We will also upgrade the Haughton Channel in Townsville and duplicate the Ross River Dam Pipeline.
“We will build the Rookwood Weir and once the EIS and feasibility study for Urannah is finished, we will build it too. This is our plan for water security in Queensland.”
The plans for the Queensland Dam Company would see the firm set up in regional Queensland, according to Deputy LNP Leader and Shadow Infrastructure Minister Deb Frecklington.
“The Dam Co will be Queensland’s version of the Snowy Hydro Authority, the company set up nearly 70 years ago to sort out and deliver the Snowy Hydro Scheme, a project which changed this country,” she said. “It will allow for investment in our dams by the Federal Government, which has billions of dollars ready and available for dams and water infrastructure – we need to get our share.”
LNP Shadow Agriculture Minister and Burdekin MP Dale Last added that the LNP’s dam plan would be a game-changer for central and north Queensland.
“Not only will these dams support thousands of jobs across the state, they will also bring a massive economic boost to towns and cities doing it tough like such as Proserpine, Bowen, Ayr and Mackay,” Last said. “The last dam built in regional Queensland was the Paradise Dam near Bundaberg more than 12 years ago.“
