‘Too slow’: KAP leader Robbie Katter calls on government to fast-track CopperString construction
KAP leader Robbie Katter is urging the state government to prioritise NQ’s CopperString project over the redevelopment of the Gabba to ensure construction gets off the ground this year.
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KAP leader Robbie Katter is urging the state government to prioritise NQ’s CopperString project over the redevelopment of the Gabba to ensure construction gets off the ground this year.
As the Queensland Government looks set to buy the CopperString project, Mr Katter is calling on Labor to ensure construction begins in 2023.
The 1000km high-voltage transmission line project between Townsville and Mount Isa, in planning for more than three years, is now at a point where work can now begin.
But the project’s proponents, the privately owned CuString Pty Ltd, are still working with the state government to see if it will be built under a “government-led model.”
Mr Katter has criticised the government for taking too long to work through the commercial decision-making process.
“I’d say they’re doing it way too slow given the urgency and requirement for this (project),” he said.
“I’m not privy to those (commercial discussions) … but we’ll do our best to keep them on their toes until we see transmission lines in the ground.
“I’d certainly be prioritising it more than the Gabba rebuild and the Olympics as I believe the government has a want for.”
“We have about $740 billion worth of untapped, highly-valuable mineral resources out here, just waiting to be unearthed with local and global markets that are practically begging for what we can provide.”
A spokesman for the CopperString project said: “We know Northern Queensland can hold enormous economic potential from our clean energy, and we continue to work very positively on a government-led delivery model for CopperString.”
Townsville Enterprise CEO, Claudia Brumme-Smith, said the Palaszczuk Government had already made it clear to parliament that it supported the CopperString project.
“The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has just released its Inputs, Assumptions and Scenarios Report for 2024 with Townsville North Queensland’s renewable energy zone capacity scoring off the charts compared to any other area in the country,” she said.
“There is no other region in Australia that deserves investment into transmission lines more than Townsville and Mount Isa.”
“The Townsville to Mount Isa corridor is the future of Australia, and it deserves investment into transmission lines now; 2022 was a crucial year for planning and getting the policies right with the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan and 2023 is the year to start building right here.”
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Originally published as ‘Too slow’: KAP leader Robbie Katter calls on government to fast-track CopperString construction
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