General News
11 June, 2025
Leaders wary of Treasurer's CopperString spin
There will be no cause for celebration until poles and wires are erected west of Hughenden.
Despite a $2.4 billion allocation in the upcoming state budget, key CopperString stakeholders are still concerned about the project’s future west of Hughenden.
Treasurer and Energy Minister David Janetzki last week pledged an additional $1.4 billion towards CopperString in the state budget, bringing the total to $2.4 billion over the next four years, but didn’t commit to the western link that would connect Mount Isa and the North West to the national grid.
Seeking investment, likely to be from an overseas conglomerate, is seen to be the preferred option to finalise the CopperString project.
In April, the Crisafulli government announced that private investment would be sought when it claimed the project cost had blown out to $13.9 billion, a figure that is contested by government-owned corporation Powerlink, which costed the project at $9 billion late last year.
The state has since brought in the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) to look at efficiencies in the project and to attract private investment.
“I want to make sure CopperString doesn’t cost $13.9 billion dollars,” Mr Janetzki said.
“There will be additional investment into CopperString in the years ahead – there will need to be, but I’m very clear we will be delivering that for less than $13.9 billion.
“We’re putting a line in the sand on that today with this (additional $1.4 billion) investment.”
“What I want to see is QIC do its work.”
Queensland Labor deputy leader Cameron Dick said it was “amateur hour” when it came to the state’s position on CopperString.
“It’s little wonder North Queenslanders are confused about where the LNP stand on CopperString when David Janetzki has more positions on this project than Donald Trump has on tariffs,” Mr Dick told North West Weekly.
“The LNP’s handling of CopperString is amateur hour.
“It was only a month ago that David Janetzki delivered a bumbling press conference admitting he only briefed the Premier just minutes before he revealed he would cut the project 521km short.
“While funding is welcome news, the Treasurer’s changing and inconsistent positions on the project are shaking industry and North Queenslander’s confidence.”
If Labor won last October’s state election, work would have already begun on the western link from Hughenden to Richmond.
Instead, both camps sit idle and the Richmond camp is in the process of being dismantled.
Member for Traeger Robbie Katter said he was not confident about the project, despite the assurances of the Crisafulli government.
“When Powerlink were in charge, all we heard were excuses. So, when the new government brought the QIC in to sort out the mess, we had a glimmer of hope,” Mr Katter said.
“But we still haven’t seen a single pole in the ground, or a meter of powerline strung!
“It is simply cruel to the communities all along the route, none more than Mount Isa, for government to be talking, talking, talking, yet there’s no real action to be seen.
“There are large industrial and mining operations awaiting final investment decisions, all hinging on a delivery timeline for CopperString.
“The government has the opportunity now to be a government who instructs departments and isn’t instructed by them. “
Flinders Shire mayor Kate Peddle said the community was cautiously optimistic.
“We have a bottle of champagne on hold, and it will remain sealed until we see a tower go up,” she said last week.
“The Crisafulli government has an unbreakable commitment to CopperString, and we acknowledge that and commend them, but what we need is to go faster, as we’ve been here before.”