Bob Katter (Kennedy, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources. The government has announced funding of $25 million for water feasibility. This now brings to over $140 million the expenditure on reports and assessments, yet in our 25 years we have not had a shovel of concrete put across the gutter. Surely, Minister, it is better for the money to go into engineering work on ready-to-go projects like Hell's Gate dam, which will inject $2 billion each and every year into North Queensland's economy.

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. I thank him because, when we are talking about Hell's Gate and if someone were going to open the gates of hell, it would have to be the member for Kennedy.

I note that that is also a proposition that is well supported by those in Townsville where the business enterprises also want to see an expansion of the water infrastructure in that area.

I can assure the member for Kennedy that, on this side of the chamber, we are doing everything in our power to progress the water infrastructure program. In fact, we expect that, by the middle of March, all proposals will be in and we can hopefully start assessments by the end of March.

There are already a number of proposals underway in the north that we are looking at—the Ord; Nullinga Dam; on the Mitchell, which I think is in the member's electorate; and Darwin. These areas are all under investigation as we speak. There is a further $25 million on top of that for investigative purposes, and we have had well over 50 applications come in for that.

I know that the member for Kennedy is a person who is absolutely proactive in making sure that we get things built: that we do not just have the discussion, that we do not just have engineering reports but that we actually start rolling things out. The member for Kennedy is only too right to say: 'Show us the evidence that you're actually doing things.' I am happy to inform the member for Kennedy that we expect that Chaffey Dam will be complete by April. That was one of the first dams of the project, and we will be looking forward very quickly. The start of it was actually when I went up there and made the final announcement, and we finally got the money through the selection process.

Mr Fitzgibbon interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Hunter will cease interjecting!

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think it started when I was serving as the Minister for Agriculture. We are also looking forward in Tasmania, as we roll forward water infrastructure projects there. It was only just in the last week, or a bit over—I suppose, a fortnight—that the Prime Minister and I were going through Central Queensland, observing other sites and working out what we could do. The member for Capricornia and the member for Flynn were very enthusiastic about the Eden Bann, Rookwood and Nathan dams in their area.

This is the side of government that will actually build these dams. That is the side of government that will take their instructions from the Greens, and nothing will ever happen. We are the people that stand behind the prospect of making sure that we alleviate some of those who are moving out of the mining industry, making sure that they can have a job and making sure that we progress the economy of North Queensland. I look forward to working with the member for Kennedy in making sure we get things done. (Time expired)