Qld politics: CopperString project blows out to $13.9bn

The Treasurer and Energy Minister will reveal on Tuesday the cost of a Queensland mega project has blown out yet again.

Energy Minister David Janetzki will deliver a speech on Tuesday.

• Editor’s view: Games actually cheap

CopperString will cost four times what the state government is spending on the Olympic and Paralympic Games after the high-voltage network project again increased – to an eye-watering $13.9bn.

The figure, up from the “true cost” of $9bn claimed in December, will be revealed by Treasurer and Energy Minister David Janetzki in a major speech on Tuesday.

Mr Janetzki will insist the government is committing to delivering CopperString – but in what shape remains unknown.

The $5bn cost increase in just five months has been blamed on “major network extensions” needed to connect mining and energy projects to the high-voltage transmission line running 1100km from Mount Isa to Townsville.

The government has likened it to building a highway without on-ramps.

“Labor had no credibility on CopperString after hiding its runaway costs and failing to even take into consideration how the project would connect to energy generation and users including those in the North West Minerals Province,” Mr Janetzki said.

“It’s clear CopperString had been destined to become another victim of Labor’s chaos and crisis, but the Crisafulli Government will save CopperString.

“We remain fully committed to delivering this critical project for the north and north west and will save CopperString from Labor’s rushed decisions and poor planning that had put the entire project at risk.”

An artist’s impression of the CopperString project at Hughenden

However whether the government will deliver the project as planned remains uncertain.

The latest cost increase is also expected to build pressure on Powerlink executives, who in December failed to identify the huge $4.9bn outlay needed to link potential mining projects to the grid.

Opposition Leader Steven Miles said the $4.9bn blowout happened under the Premier’s leadership.

“They revised the cost estimate for CopperString just at the end of last year to $9bn, now they say under their watch in just a few months it’s increased by another $5bn,” he said.

“This is a cost blowout that David Janetzki is personally responsible for.

“The Premier said that these kind of cost blowouts wouldn’t happen under his government and he said that if they did happen, his ministers would be held to account.

“Now it’s time for him to make good on that promise and hold his treasurer to account.”

Mr Miles warned against the government making cuts to the “crucial state-building project”.

CopperString is being delivered by Powerlink, the government-owned electricity transmission operator.

Katter’s Australian Party leader Robbie Katter has previously called for Powerlink chair Kathy Hirschfield and chief executive officer Paul Simshauer to be sacked over governance failures.

“The Powerlink chair and CEO were given a shovel-ready CopperString project two years ago, and despite a commitment from the Premier, not a single transmission tower is up,” he said last month.

The $13.9bn CopperString spend is one quarter of the $3.65bn Queensland taxpayers will contribute for the $7.1bn total “funding envelope” for Games venues

It is also significantly higher than the original $1.8bn – then $5bn – cost announced by the former state Labor government in 2023.

CopperString will link Queensland’s North West Minerals Province – one of the world’s richest deposits of critical minerals with an estimated value of $500bn – to the National Energy Market.

Workers accommodation is being built at Hughenden and CopperString remains on track for completion in 2029.