Fast Track Off, But We Won’t Give Up On Building Dam

FAST TRACK OFF, BUT WE WON’T GIVE UP ON BUILDING DAM

“We are obviously incredibly disappointed for the people of North Queensland and our thousands of supporters across Queensland.”

“The capital funding announced by the former Government allowed us to fast track the project with confidence, however we will now have to revert back to our original timeline.”

“Before our capital funding was announced in the March 2021 Budget our funding application with the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund was already significantly progressed and we will now continue that process. Since our original NWIDF application we’ve taken significant steps forward in terms of our commercials and environmental approvals, putting us in an ideal position to continue discussions with the new entity for funding water infrastructure projects.”

“We understand the local community will be disappointed with this outcome, however, in the coming weeks we will be holding information sessions with the local community to reconfirm our commitment to building Urannah.

“We made a commitment to the locals that we would build this dam and that commitment stands.”

“The ongoing, six-year approval process has been long and complex but we won’t give up,” said Mr Benjamin.

“We’ve had productive discussions with the Albanese Government since the election and we understand the Government needs to prioritise infrastructure projects that will commence construction before our proposed timeline.

“Since our funding announcement in March 2021, the cost of building infrastructure has increased significantly and the competition in the supply chain is considerable.”

“We don’t need our funding in the coming financial year and our project will continue to attract investment from the private sector given our unique mix of food, water and energy our project delivers for North Queensland.”