‘Deceitful cover up’: Major Qld power project blows out to $9bn

The major CopperString 2.0 transmission project in Queensland’s north will be delivered as promised, despite costs blowing out to $9bn, as the Treasurer says his mid-year budget update will be delayed.

CopperString 2.0 has blown out to a whopping $9bn.

The major CopperString transmission project in Queensland’s north will be delivered as promised the new state government has guaranteed, despite costs blowing out to $9bn.

It comes as stakeholders laid blame for the spiralling project costs at the feet of PowerLink, with calls for the new government to undertake a full audit of the state-owned corporation’s handling of CopperString.

Treasurer and Energy Minister David Janetzki confirmed Treasury and government-owned PowerLink had confirmed the transmission project connection Mount Isa to the electricity grid via Hughenden and Townsville would cost $9bn — up from the original $5bn.

Mr Janetzki said it would be “all hands on deck to save CopperString”, though the government is yet to lay out how it will drive down costs of the project.

State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Minister Jarrod Bleijie ruled out any scope changes to the project, vowing it would be delivered to the specifications promised.

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie and Treasurer and Energy Minister David Janetzki. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass

“But what we need to do is work out how to deliver the project, considering it’s now a $9bn project,” he said.

The staggering $9bn price tag for CopperString was laid bare in internal documents used to brief the incoming government, with former Energy Minister Mick de Brenni confirming he was aware of the $9bn figure flagged by PowerLink in early August.

Mr de Brenni said Treasury then provided advice that was accepted by government, prompting the announcement in late August that CopperString had ballooned from $5bn to $6.2bn.

Katter’s Australian Party leader and Member for Traeger Robbie Katter accused PowerLink executive of undermining the project by coming up with “nonsense figures”.

“The bean counters at the top end have artificially manufactured these numbers that just have no connection with what (the project) would be if it’s done productively, efficiently … and through normal commercial terms,” he said.

“The competency (of PowerLink) needs to be assessed by the government.

“No better time than now because this is a huge project that many people have staked their livelihood … and PowerLink couldn’t send a clearer signal that they just don’t support this project, that they don’t want it to go ahead, and that they’re not committed to delivering it.”

Townsville Enterprise chief executive Claudia Brumme-Smith underlined the importance of the project to unlocking the state’s $740bn untapped critical mineral deposits in the northwest.

Former Minister for Resources and Critical Minerals Scott Stewart with then-Deputy Premier and Treasurer Cameron Dick and CopperString's Tony McGrady at the official opening of the CopperString Experience Centre. Picture: Shae Beplate.

“We need PowerLink to work hard to control costs and deliver CopperString on time and on budget,” she said.

Mr Bleijie said the government supported the project “as it’s planned”.

“I’ve already had discussions this morning with the Coordinator-General.”

It comes as the depth of project blowouts uncovered by the new government prompted Mr Janetzki to delay a mid-year update of the budget.

The mid-year budget update is usually delivered by mid-December but Mr Janetzki said it would now be done in January.

“Given the extent of the blowouts and what we need to get our head around. It’s important that we do that appropriately, calmly, methodically, and that’s why (the mid-year budget update) will be in the new year,” he said.

The multibillion-dollar blowout was revealed on Monday, with revelations it was known to the former state government at the moment it announced a smaller blowout to the energy project.

Then-Treasurer Cameron Dick in late August had announced the CopperString project price tag had grown to $6.2bn, citing escalating construction costs

But leaked documents show the government was aware CopperString was set to cost $9bn as priced by Powerlink when it made the blowout announcement.

“In August 2024, Powerlink submitted a Final Investment Proposal (FIP) to shareholding Ministers, including an updated base project cost estimate of around $9bn,” the document stated.

It also stated the $9bn figure included a “$2bn contingency and capitalised interest costs of around $800m”.

The original CopperString price tag of $5bn included a 30 per cent contingency.

Robbie Katter MP outside Mount Isa's Mica Creek Power Station, which uses natural Gas. The CopperString 2.0 project would connect the Mount Isa region to the NEM.

CopperString 2.0 started off as a privately backed 1100km transmission line stretching from Mount Isa in the state’s northwest to Townsville with a connection through Hughenden in a bid to unlock $500bn in untapped critical minerals to spark Queensland’s next mining boom.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, as part of Labor’s unravelling Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan, announced in early 2023 the government would take over the landmark project and build it.

The project was due to be completed in 2029.

The eye-watering cost increase of CopperString 2.0 builds on a raft of blowouts that have been foisted on the newly minted LNP government.

It includes a $6.4bn increase in health infrastructure costs alongside billions of cost overruns in transport projects.

Mr Janetzki said the CopperString 2.0 blowout bombshell was “another deceitful and deliberate cover up” by Labor.

“(Labor has been caught) lying red-handed to Queenslanders in the lead up to an election,” he said

“With every passing day we are uncovering more extraordinary blowouts that Labor hid from Queenslanders.

“Labor’s Steven Miles, Cameron Dick and Mick de Brenni now have some very serious explaining to do.”

Former energy minister Mick de Brenni said the Final Investment Proposal was “provided to government a month or two before a decision was made to increase funding”.

“I understand that decision was announced within days of it being made,” he said.

Opposition Deputy Leader Cameron Dick claimed Premier Dave Crisafulli was “selectively leaking” government documents in a bid to mount an argument to cut CopperString 2.0.

“David Crisafulli has decided not to leak the Treasury analysis of the Powerlink Report, which recommend an investment of $6.2 billion,” he said.

Mr Crisafulli has repeatedly backed in CopperString 2.0 as an important project supported by the LNP.