Queensland Hydro gives former landowners in Pioneer Valley until June 2026 to buy back their homes

Queenslanders who sold their homes to the government for the Pioneer-Burdekin pumped hydro project now have a deadline to buy them back. Here’s how it works.

Mirani MP Glen Kelly and the Premier David Crisafulli looking at sugarcane during a tour of the Sugar Shed, Sarina during the 2024 Queensland election. Picture: Liam Kidston.

The 57 Pioneer-Valley landowners who sold their properties for the scrapped pumped hydro project will now have until June 2026 to buy them back.

The cancellation of the Pioneer-Burdekin project in the Mackay region, ran by Queensland Hydro, was a centrepiece of the LNP government’s energy and budget plans.

It was formally cancelled in November.

By December, Queensland Hydro contacted the landholders asking them to submit expressions of interest if they would like to repurchase their homes.

The final drill rig related to the former Pioneer-Burdekin Pumped Hydro Project has been removed from the Pioneer Valley. Picture: Queensland Hydro

The government-owned body is giving landowners the option of buying back their properties at the price for which they were sold, or to have a market valuation.

It has promised “no former landholder will pay more than what they sold for”, and no one is obligated to buy back if they choose not to.

Many of the people who sold were permitted to remain on the properties, paying a token amount to Queensland Hydro as a lease.

Mandy Tennent celebrated the cancellation of the Pioneer-Burdekin pumped hydro project with an updated sign.

Queensland Hydro said it would continue to work with previous landholders on the leases currently in place, and that it would “responsibly” sell the remaining properties to “limit any potential impacts to the property market”.

The report into the Pioneer-Burdekin project revealed there was a smaller, more manageable version which could have been built, but it was not the version that was promoted to residents by the then-Labor government.

There was fierce local opposition to the project, mostly channeled through Save Eungella, a coalition of residents who were concerned about the environmental impacts.

More recently, the LNP government cancelled the Moonlight Range wind farm project in Rockhampton, sparking concern for the future of renewables projects across Queensland.

Speaking in Mackay, Mr Crisafulli said that small “more manageable” pumped hydro was a key part of the energy mix and that we can expect “to see money on the table” for projects such as the Big T pumped Hydro in Toowoomba and the Mount Rawdon pumped hydro in the upcoming budget.

Asked where he stood on the Capricornia Energy Hub and companies wanting to invest in those areas, Mr Crisafulli said that Queensland was “open for business”.

“We want people to come and invest in Queensland, in whatever area you are, whether or not you want to invest in mining or tourism, or agriculture, or renewable energy,” he said.

The premier said the cancellation of the recent wind farm project in Rockhampton set a precedent for future and current renewable projects in the state.

“The precedent is if you work with the community, you’ll get approved, and in the case of those developments that don’t, they won’t. That’s the precedent we’re setting,” he said.

Originally published as Queensland Hydro gives former landowners in Pioneer Valley until June 2026 to buy back their homes