Bowen Collinsville Enterprise calls on Albanese, Chalmers to keep $483m for Urannah dam in federal budget

It’s a project years in the making, but its future could be decided in a matter of weeks.

The prospect of a new dam west of Mackay could hang on the upcoming Federal Budget.

The $966m Urannah Dam nabbed a $483m commitment in the former government’s pre-election March budget but the ascension of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers means Urannah’s federal funding prospects are up in the air.

Bowen Collinsville Enterprise chair Paul McLaughlin has started an email campaign to pressure the new government to keep the money in place in the run-up to the budget, set to be delivered on October 25.

“Before the election, the Albanese Government and the local Labor candidates supported the capital funding for Urannah Dam that is already in the federal budget,” he writes.

“I am calling on the Albanese Government to honour that budget commitment post-election. North Queensland requires the Urannah project now more than ever to supports jobs, economic growth, water security and reliable renewable energy.”

The email has gone out to some 2000 recipients.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ October budget will determine whether an earlier federal government funding commitment to Urannah dam holds. Picture: Gary Ramage

Labor figures, including Dawson candidate Shane Hamilton and Queensland Senator Anthony Chisholm, indicated their support for the project during the election campaign, but said it needed to stack up environmentally and on a cost-benefit basis.

The 940GL dam forms one part of a three-part infrastructure vision, with a total cost pegged at $2.9bn.

The other components are a pumped hydro scheme and irrigation precinct.

Economic analysis prepared by BDO and Victoria University puts the cumulative region-wide impact at $4.1bn.

The $483m announced for the dam was the signal funding commitment to the Mackay region in the Coalition budget, something Capricornia MP Michelle Landry and Dawson MP Andrew Willcox highlighted in their campaigns.

Since the announcement of the state government’s massive $12bn pumped hydro scheme in the Pioneer Valley, both LNP members have trumpeted Urannah as a better option.

“The announcement of a new hydro project in the Pioneer Valley begs the question, why not the Urannah Dam?” Ms Landry said.

“The Urannah Dam is ready to go.”