Queensland water projects’ $6.5bn blowout

The cost of 11 critical water projects across the state, including the rebuild of a major dam, has blown out by a combined $6.5bn - enough to almost fund all infrastructure for the 2032 Games.

The price of rebuilding Bundaberg’s Paradise Dam has nearly quadrupled.

The cost of 11 critical water projects across the state, including the rebuild of a major dam, has blown out by a combined $6.5bn - enough to almost fund all the infrastructure for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The price of the trouble-plagued Paradise Dam rebuild alone has nearly quadrupled, from $1.2bn to $4.4bn.

It is the first time the realistic cost of rebuilding Bundaberg’s Paradise Dam - the main water source for Queensland’s largest food producing region - has been released.

Water Minister Ann Leahy will travel to Bundaberg on Wednesday to reassure the community the project will be built.

“The Crisafulli Government will always be open and transparent about infrastructure costings – and to be very clear – we will deliver Paradise Dam as we promised,” she said.

Then-premier Steven Miles and Sunwater chief executive Glenn Stockton admitted in May the rebuild of the dam would cost more than $1.2bn, but declined to say how much until the business case was completed in late 2025.

Ann Leahy. Picture: Evan Morgan

Treasurer David Janetzki said the former government should have been upfront and told Queenslanders about the water project blowouts.

“Labor’s complete inability to manage the budget is why they have failed to properly deliver infrastructure projects and services for the past decade,” he said.

The Somerset Dam improvement program has more than doubled.

The state government confirmed the blowouts related to capital costs for construction and associated ancillary works, and did not factor in operational and ongoing maintenance costs.

Other water projects which have been hit by blowouts include the Wivenhoe Dam Improvement Project (up $673m to $2.7bn), and the Burdekin Falls Dam project in North Queensland (up $623m to $1.67bn).

The Somerset Dam improvement program has more than doubled, increasing by $950m for a total price tag of $1.6bn.

Treasurer David Janetzki.

The Toowoomba to Warwick pipeline has increased in cost by $141m for a total price tag of $467m.

Paradise Dam, on the Burnett River, supplies water to Bundaberg’s agriculture sector - the main supplier of sweet potatoes in Australia and a major producer of avocadoes, macadamias, and strawberries.

Wivenhoe Dam. Picture: Liam Kidston

The dam was completed in 2005 after just two years of construction by the “Burnett Dam Alliance” partnership which included Burnett Water Pty Ltd and Hydro Tasmania. Paradise Dam’s wall was lowered in 2020 amid structural integrity concerns.

A major inquiry that year deemed the dam “intrinsically incapable” of meeting design standards. The government in January 2024 revealed it would need to build a whole new wall instead of fixing the existing structure.

According to Sunwater the detailed business case integral to advancing the new wall would be ready at the end of 2025 and presented to government in 2026.