Reviving plans for the Tully Millstream hydro scheme north-west of Tully is a key job-creating project on NQ First’s election platform.
Party leader and Whitsunday MP Jason Costigan has promised $400 million to make the hydroelectric power project a reality if NQ First wins the balance of power at the State election on October 31.
Mr Costigan, who made the announcement in Cairns today, said the Far North Queensland project had been talked about for decades, but under Labor and the LNP nothing had eventuated.
“It’s a project that will shape the future economic growth of the Far North in the wake of COVID-19 and is central to our $1b Powering the North program that also taps into coal in the Bowen Basin to ensure cheaper and reliable baseload power north of the Tropic of Capricorn,” Mr Costigan said.
Mr Costigan’s Tully Millstream announcement follows a $400 million pledge towards a new coal-fired power station at Collinsville, using high efficiency, low emissions (HELE) technology that is already tried and tested around the world.
“Tully and Collinsville, if we are successful on October 31, will become crucial locations in advancing North and Far North Queensland’s capability to boost jobs and economic growth well into the 21st century and well beyond the recession we now have, thanks to COVID-19,” he said.
Funding for the projects is proposed to come from existing mining royalties.
Previous proposals for the hydro-electric project involved a 600MW power station to be constructed underground between Koombooloomba Dam and the Tully River.
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