Urannah Dam project: ‘Multimillion-dollar returns for taxpayers’
Bowen River Utilities is using the upcoming federal election to switch the debate to the politics of building the Urannah dam, writes Peter Gleeson.
Peter Gleeson
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At last week’s Sky News “Mavericks” debate, Katter’s Australian Party founder and federal Member for Kennedy Bob Katter talked about how the Bjelke-Petersen government had built a dam every year it was elected.
He said it had attracted Japanese tourism investment, and they had built a resort every year they were elected.
It was the same with coalmines. Of course, back then the Greens were seen as ratbags, rebels without a cause and treated as such. Now, lord over politicians because they make plenty of noise.
However, there might just be a white knight on the horizon.
Bowen River Utilities is using the upcoming federal election to switch the debate to the politics of building the Urannah dam.
John Cotter is a director, having grown up on a cattle property west of Gympie, and he knows a thing or two about the value of water to agriculture.
That’s why he’s spent the past six years working to deliver water security, irrigation, jobs and cheaper electricity for North Queensland.
Cotter is the proponent of the Urannah Dam – a project with a huge amount of support from rural and regional locals in and around the Isaac and Whitsunday regions.
It would be twice the size of Sydney Harbour.
It will bring people back to these forgotten areas, boost their local economies and return a real sense of buzz and pride in their communities.
Cotter believes that the State Labor Government is confronted by the interruption that the private sector could bring to the current taxpayer-funded monopoly of the water distribution network.
The project is to be handed over to the taxpayers of Queensland halfway through its life.
“I’m a very strong advocate for private funding of these desperately needed infrastructure projects, and the multimillion-dollar returns that can be provided to hardworking taxpayers,’’ Cotter says.
“With the agricultural industry subject to ongoing market and climate volatility, alternate farming practices that restore and regenerate our rural landscape are essential.
“Through improving soil microbiology, enhancing biodiversity on a broader scale, respecting natural processes combined with valuing social capital, we will be able to maintain beef production and produce more nutrient-dense foods like mangoes, lychees, citrus, macadamias, bananas, corn and chickpeas.
“All of this can be done with water … grit, community and government support.’’
Cotter is determined to deliver the dam and associated projects that will provide water security, diversify existing industries and secure huge domestic and export opportunities.
He’s just got to make sure no snails, birds, turtles or koalas are offended.
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