Election good news for North

THE federal election campaign has certainly got off to a good start for North Queensland.

The announcement of full funding for Hells Gates Dam, pending the outcome of an upcoming business case, is an incredible result.

At $5.4bn, this will be one of the biggest developments in our region’s history.

It’s hard to imagine just how significant the economic boost from construction will be for our community.

Some 7000 new jobs will be created for North Queenslanders and, on completion, the region will be forever transformed with 60,000 new hectares of irrigated agricultural land.

While we’ve seen business confidence increase over the past two years, one of the biggest challenges for business has been finding the skilled staff to fill the positions that a growing economy needs. The Designated Area Migration Agreement between Townsville Enterprise and the Australian government is a fantastic step to addressing this issue.

Finally, we’ve at last seen the commitment to name Townsville as a formal hydrogen hub.

This is another step in the right direction for this new local industry.