Queensland mulls Bradfield scheme report as minister damns PM’s pledge

Queensland Water Minister Glenn Butcher has hit out at the Morrison government’s “embarrassing” $5.4 billion pledge for a new dam in the state’s north without a final business case or environmental approvals.

The latest move in a quasi-campaign by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has called on the state government to “get out the big stamp” and approve the project, has also upset north Queensland MP Bob Katter, who says the proposal would kill off any Bradfield Scheme hopes.

Once touted as a potential solution to drought in western Queensland, the highly engineered irrigation scheme was the brainchild of Sydney Harbour Bridge engineer John Bradfield in the 1930s and would redirect water from the tropical north’s major rivers to the dry interior.

In 2020, the Palaszczuk Labor government established an independent panel, headed by economist Ross Garnaut, to advise on the viability of a Bradfield-like scheme estimated to cost $15 billion. Pandemic travel rules hampered stakeholder talks and the report’s completion.

“We are now assessing it, it’s important that we assess these things critically,” Mr Butcher told reporters in Rockhampton on Wednesday.

The panel’s lengthy report was not expected to be released publicly before the election.

The impact of damming efforts along the Burdekin River, along which the Hells Gates Dam is proposed and which falls within the broader Bradfield scheme, have previously been questioned by the region’s mayor.Credit: Annette Ruznicka

Mr Morrison had earlier announced his government would guarantee $5.4 billion for the 2100 gigalitre Hells Gates Dam, on the Burdekin River near Townsville, in the coming federal budget.

This would be subject to a final business plan for the irrigation dam, slated to support 60,000 hectares of new agricultural land, which is not expected until after the federal election.

“To put $5.4 billion on the table for a project that doesn’t even have a detailed business case together yet is a little bit embarrassing for the government,” Mr Butcher said.

Speaking alongside the minister, Treasurer Cameron Dick said state approvals for the dam would happen in “the normal way”.

The issue of water infrastructure has emerged as a key focus of the Coalition in Queensland. Both the state and federal governments have each committed $600 million to restore the Bundaberg region’s troubled Paradise Dam, with others being jointly progressed.

One, Urannah Dam near Mackay in central Queensland, has also had a pledge of $500 million from the federal government while it awaits environmental approvals. Studies for it and the Hells Gates Dam have raised questions about the economic benefits and viability.

Burdekin mayor Lyn McLaughlin has previously called for a wider impact assessment on damming the catchment.

“All the state government has to do is get out the big stamp and go ‘approved’,” Mr Morrison told reporters from the Townsville port, where he spruiked the dam’s potential $6 billion boost to the regional economy through new and expanded agricultural land.

The sentiment was echoed by state Liberal National Party water spokeswoman Deb Frecklington.

Hells Gates is slated to form part of a Bradfield-like scheme. Mr Katter, a long-term advocate for both and key federal crossbench figure, criticised the proposed dam height as too low to allow it to gravity-feed water west into the broader scheme.

While not wishing to condemn Mr Morrison for being “led down the garden path” by bureaucrats, Mr Katter said the proposal “actually destroys the future and potential of the region”.

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