Peter Dutton criticises $12bn Pioneer-Burdekin pumped hydro scheme near Mackay

In a whirlwind visit to Mackay, the Federal Opposition Leader has dismissed the State Government’s plans for a pumped hydro scheme, which would wipe dozens of properties, as a “thought bubble”.

Politics surrounding the $12bn pumped hydro scheme in the Pioneer Valley is now sharply divided along partisan lines, with the country’s Opposition Leader publicly rubbishing the mammoth renewable energy project.

Speaking in Mackay on Wednesday, Peter Dutton said the proposal announced by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in September lacked sufficient detail to be credible.

“I think people see what the Premier has announced as not much more than a thought bubble,” he said.

“There are families in communities where there will be resumptions, that are really panicking now, they don’t know whether their future is secure, whether their house and property will be resumed, and the Premier seems to be able to provide no detail.”

Dawson MP Andrew Willcox (left) and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton met in Mackay on October 12. Picture: Duncan Evans

Mr Dutton said the LNP supported renewable energy but wanted a serious discussion about how that energy should be “firmed up”, arguing wind and solar were unreliable.

“If you don’t like coal and you don’t like gas and hydrogen is at least ten years away, then what is the answer to firming up?

“If you have got this pipe dream from the Premier about a hydro scheme which might take 12 years, probably longer to bring online, how on earth are you going to move from low double-digit renewable energy into the market, in the mix now, how are you going to get that up to where the Premier wants it?

“I just do not think it is reality.”

The scheme would generate 5GW of power through linking two upper reservoirs and a lower reservoir at the town of Netherdale with underground tunnels and a powerhouse.

The Pioneer Valley near Netherdale. Picture: Duncan Evans

The project underpins a broader $62bn ambition to “green” the Queensland economy and is expected to store and dispatch up to half of the state’s energy needs with renewable energy.

More than 50 homes will need to be resumed to make way for the project.

Some Pioneer Valley residents have reacted with shock and anger at the proposal and a Facebook group called No Hydro Save Eungella/Netherdale/Mt Dalrymple formed in the same week as the announcement now has more than 3000 followers.

Capricornia MP Michelle Landry and Dawson MP Andrew Willcox have also criticised the plan and have pushed the $2.9bn Urannah project as a better option.

State Mirani MP Stephen Andrew has launched an e-petition opposing the scheme and it has garnered more than 4000 signatures to date.