Flooding fuels renewed Bradfield Scheme push

The Bradfield Scheme could have ameliorated the devastating 2025 North Queensland floods had it been built, according to Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter. The proposed irrigation scheme would divert excess floodwaters from the upper Tully, Herbert and Burdekin river systems. Mr Katter said the failure of successive state and federal governments over the last century to realise the scheme, as well as its more modern, revised version, had an immeasurable impact on the North’s economy as well as its broader ability to weather-proof the region. Image at top of page: Robbie and Bob Katter at the proposed site of Hell's Gate Dam, a cornerstone of the revised Bradfield Scheme “We are now seeing the devastating effects of the lack of foresight and vision in Queensland politics over recent decades,” he said. “The Bradfield Scheme was all about drought-proofing the north and central western areas of Queensland and turning the region into a food bowl, however the scheme indirectly can mitigate flooding risks as well by pulling all that water delivered by monsoonal weather away from the coast and its river catchments. “Now we will never know if Ingham could have been prevented from ruin, or if we could have maintained our road network access at Macrossan along the Burdekin by holding back some of that water. “Along the Burdekin River alone, we have been seeing enough water to fill the Sydney Harbour three times flowing out to sea each day. “Until the revised Bradfield Scheme is built, we in the North will remain at Mother Nature’s mercy in terms of both flood and drought.” The scheme was first proposed in 1938 with the intention of irrigating a swathe of the inland and has long been advocated by Member for Kennedy Bob Katter. A State Government-commissioned panel headed up by economist Professor Ross Garnaut looked into the Bradfield Scheme proposal and subsequent proposals to divert northern Queensland rivers inland from the Wet Tropics and Burdekin to create vast irrigation tracts in the outback and as far south as South Australia. Its findings, handed down in late 2022, determed the scheme was not feasible. The then Water Minister Glenn Butcher said all of the research showed there was not enough consistent water to support the scheme. Robbie Katter said the recent flooding disaster had only strengthened the pressure on the new Crisafulli LNP Government to re-ignite their support for the revised Bradfield, which the LNP pledged to build while in Opposition in 2020. The revised version, created by Sir Leo Hielscher and Sir Frank Moore, culminates in the building of Hells Gates Dam at a height of at least 395m above sea level. Mr Katter said a dam of that size would hold double the amount of the current Burdekin Falls Dam and would allow water to be sent west via channels to the 'plains of promise' at Pentland and further west. He said the KAP will work to ensure the Crisafulli LNP Government, as well as the party that formed the Commonwealth Government following the upcoming federal election, prioritised the building of the revised Bradfield Scheme.

Flooding fuels renewed Bradfield Scheme push

Industry Queensland

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