Calls to keep jobs in North
Herbert MP Phil Thompson has accused the federal government of taking water project management jobs out of North Queensland.
However, Water and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek says the national body in Canberra can handle the work.
The North Queensland Water Infrastructure Authority was established under the Coalition government in 2019 to co-ordinate the Hughenden Irrigation, Hells Gates Dam and Big Rocks Weir projects.
But the authority was abol
ished last week – the federal government says this will save $9.5m over four years.
The agency’s functions will be transferred into the Department of Climate Change,
Energy, the Environment and Water. Six people work at the authority, and their future is unclear.
In Townsville on Wednesday, Ms Plibersek said the authority was cut because it made sense to bring all project delivery staff together.
“One of the projects that they were managing has been discontinued and the other two can be best dealt with by the same people who are doing water infrastructure right across Australia.”
People working in the authority will be accommodated by the department.
“It’s an administrative decision,” Ms Plibersek said.
Herbert MP Phil Thompson said the authority overseeing North Queensland projects should be in North Queensland. “This is a cut to jobs and I believe this is a detriment to our future here in the north,” Mr Thompson said.
“We have to fight tooth and nail to get people out of Canberra, out of Brisbane, to come here. To pull them away … is a bad mistake.”
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan was also in Townsville on Friday. He said it was unclear in last year’s senate estimates how many people would be working for the authority, “so we’ll find out next week (at senate estimates) how many jobs will be lost”.
“We unashamedly believe that we should have North Queensland people in our public service managing North Queensland projects,” he said. He was concerned the Big Rocks Weir project “seems to be being run out of Canberra”.
Mr Thompson said he would be requesting a meeting with Ms Plibersek.
Townsville Enterprise chief executive Claudia BrummeSmith said North Queensland’s water security should not be a political issue, because it was a community need.
“We’ve had no indication from the state or federal Labor government that Hells Gates Dam would be back on their agenda. Minister Plibersek announced there is $2bn on the table for overall water infrastructure projects in Australia. We believe the Burdekin Basin is the best investment for this funding,” she said. The region was a natural choice for investment because of “population growth, enormous hydrogen potential and abundance of prime agricultural land”, she said.