LNP members endorse plan for new Bradfield Scheme in QLD

LNP members have endorsed the party’s multibillion-dollar plan to droughtproof the state. But another controversial motion set to be debated at the state council this weekend was withdrawn at the last minute.

LNP members have given their ringing endorsement to the party’s multibillion-dollar plan to build a new Bradfield scheme to droughtproof the state.

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington outlined her vision to divert water from the South Johnstone, Tully, Herbert and Burdekin rivers into a new massive Hell’s Game Dam and through Queensland’s interior, as revealed by The Courier Mail earlier this month.

Deb Frecklington hopes votes will flow from major election pledge on drought-breaking water scheme

Speaking to members at the LNP’s state council at the Gold Coast at which she received a standing ovation, Ms Frecklington said using water from the tropics in the driest parts of the country would unlock a massive new western food bowl 10,000 square kilometres bigger than Tasmania.

LNP Leader Deb Frecklington.

She said the amount of wasted water that spilt over the Burdekin Falls Dam in the February floods could have filled Sydney Harbour in five hours.

“If we had have captured and diverted just a portion of that water, we could begin the processing of droughtproofing that areas of Queensland,” she said.

Under the plan – different to Bradfield’s original version – water would be fed by gravity through tunnels, generating enough hydro power for 800,000 homes.

Ms Frecklington said the scheme would require billions of dollars of investment over two decades but would be truly nation-building.

“Is it an ambition plan? You betcha it is but I think it’s about time Queensland had some ambition,” she said.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has said she is interested in devising a new, smaller scheme.

Meanwhile, state council passed a resolution condemning the Palaszczuk Government and calling for answers over why the Paradise Dam’s level had to be lowered.

Another motion set to be debated – that an incoming LNP state government legislate to prohibit face-coverings that conceal a person’s identity in public places – was withdrawn at the last minute