Urannah project promises 2500 construction jobs, 5000 flow-on jobs for Mackay, Isaac, Whitsundays

The full benefit of the mammoth $2.9bn Urannah project for Mackay, Isaac and the Whitsunday has been revealed with new job projections unveiled. And the proponents say it will also deliver benefits for the Great Barrier Reef.

The massive $2.9bn Urannah project could create 2500 jobs in construction and 5000 flow-on jobs across the Mackay, Isaac and the Whitsundays in a dramatic revision of its original estimates.

Bowen River Utilities, the enterprise leading the charge for the project, had pegged the jobs boost at 1200 during construction.

But with the submission of its draft EIS to the state government on Friday, CEO James Benjamin said there had been “a significant increase in the number of jobs”.

“Each year there are a number of jobs being created,” he said.

“It is a ripple effect throughout the economy.”

The construction period is estimated at four years and the project’s operations flow out to 30 years.

In addition to revising its jobs estimates, the company says the price tag of the dam has come down from $1.05bn to $966m, the outcome of more refined design.

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

The cost-benefit analysis for Queensland and Australia is $13 billion and $10.5 billion, respectively.

State-wide, the analysis estimates about 6300 construction jobs and more than 6500 flow-on jobs over the 30 years.

The project is divided into three components: a 940-gigalitre dam on the Broken River 80km west of Mackay, an irrigation scheme to implant a new farming precinct around Collinsville and a pumped-hydro scheme.

Bowen Gumlu Growers Association General Manager Ry Collins has said the irrigation scheme could result in new high-value crops such as citrus and macadamias emerging to complement the region’s existing horticultural industry.

He also said new broadacre crops such as soy beans, cotton and legumes could also emerge with the scheme.

Mr Benjamin said the benefits would also encompass mining and residential consumers in reduced water and electricity costs.

“We will be an added supply and we’ll be competitively priced and we know that that’s got to be a good outcome for consumers, whether they are mines or residents,” he said.

“That extra supply and that extra competition against the likes of incumbents like SunWater.”

The company’s modelling predicts a decrease in water supply costs of 23.6 per cent.

“That is across the board,” Mr Benjamin said.

The company said the project would deliver a decrease in wholesale energy costs to the tune of $350m over 30 years.

Some environmental groups such as Whitsunday Conservation Council have raised concerns about the project, but Mr Benjamin said his enterprise would deliver substantial environmental benefits, including to the Great Barrier Reef.

“We will actually have an improvement to the Great Barrier Reef,” he said.

“We will reduce sediment, nitrogen, phosphorous run-off and so on.”

He said his company had large tracts of land under option to put in place buffer zones and the project would include biodiversity, carbon and reef offsets.

He also said his company had re-scaled the size of the dam to avoid any impact of the region’s Irwin’s turtles.

“The reason for that is to mitigate the impacts on Massey Gorge and Massey Gorge is a potential habitat for the Irwin’s turtle so we’ve actually mitigated, or to be frank, avoided, impacts on the turtle by decaling or reducing the size of the dam.”

With the draft EIS submitted, the company will now respond to community feedback while also progressing early contractor involvement, negotiating with Traditional Owners and working to secure additional regulatory approvals.

Bowen River aims to reach financial close by 2023-34 with early works to begin in 2024-25.

The federal LNP government committed $483m to the dam in the March budget and Mr Benjamin expressed confidence the money would hold despite the change in government.

“I’m reassured by (Prime Minister) Anthony Albanese’s comments around the need to actually invest in infrastructure, improve productivity, around water is needed for the regions, so I’m reassured by what I’ve heard out of the federal government and we’ve obviously had a number of engagements with different members of parliament,” he said, adding his company had met with Labor members before and after the election.