HYDROGEN DECISION A BLOW FOR TOWNSVILLE

News that Gladstone will be home to the world’s largest hydrogen-equipment facility will be music to the ears of many but for Townsville that is certainly not the case. Gladstone has trumped Townsville for a second time when it comes to hydrogen after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk met with Fortescue Metals Group CEO Andrew Forrest in Gladstone on Sunday to announce their partnership in developing a $1bn hydrogen development facility.

Gladstone was last month named Queensland’s priority location for the federal government’s Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hub Round 1 grants and Townsville’s snubbing led to the formation of the NQ hydrogen consortium.

Now fingers are being pointed as to why Townsville and North Queensland has been left out in the cold, and while the blame game will play out, the fact is our region has missed out big time.

We can’t be left out when out when it comes to projects of this magnitude, and the representatives of our region and its interests need to do better.

The new hydrogen-equipment fa

THE NEW HYDROGEN-EQUIPMENT FACILITY MIGHT BE TRUMPETED AS A WIN FOR QUEENSLAND BUT IT’S NOT A WIN FOR TOWNSVILLE AND THE SURROUNDING REGION.

cility might be trumpeted as a win for Queensland but it’s not a win for Townsville and the surrounding region.

GUTSY BLACKHAWKS DIG DEEP

The Townsville Blackhawks played hard and fought until the very end of yesterday’s state under-21 grand final against Wynnum-manly but unfortunately our boys fell just short in golden point, losing 17-16.

The result will hurt for some time to come but the young Blackhawks deserve to be proud of their achievement. It shows the future of rugby league in North Queensland is promising, and hats off to coach David Elliott as well.

The well-known mentor and former Ignatius Park College teacher is a true stalwart of local football and he takes his next steps in the coaching world next year as head coach of Queensland Cup side the Mackay Cutters.