Federal Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry has welcomed the start of construction of Rookwood Weir to a height of 76,000ML.
Ms Landry said today has been a long time coming for farmers, landowners and graziers.
“In October 2019, I joined farmers and the agriculture industry in Central Queensland to demand the Queensland Labor Government to build Rookwood Weir to its full capacity of 76,000ML of high-priority water, not the downsized 54,000ML version they were proposing.
“While we still don’t know whether it will be medium priority water, high priority water or mix of both, the start of construction is an important milestone.”
Ms Landry said the Federal Government has invested $183.6 million into the project.
“I fought hard for federal funding and to make sure that water is allocated to the agricultural sector at a fair price. Much like our farmers, I wanted it built once and built properly.
“I will continue to speak out on behalf of local farmers and the agriculture industry in Central Queensland to make sure that everyone gets their fair share of water from Rookwood Weir at a fair price.
“I want to assure the local farmers of Capricornia that I have their back and I will not rest until I can be assured that everyone is treated as fairly as possible.
“Today is a great start, I feel we have turned the corner so let’s work together to build the real Rookwood Weir,” Ms Landry said.
Rookwood Weir is being built on the Fitzroy River, 66 kilometres south-west of Rockhampton. Once complete, the over-16-metre-high weir will enable a transition to higher-value agricultural land use and facilitate new industrial business opportunities in the region.
The Federal Government has invested more than $3.5 billion for dams, weirs and pipelines through the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund. We added $2 billion in funding over ten years from 2020-21 for the development and delivery of a 10-year rolling program of priority water infrastructure investment.
This additional funding will deliver increased water security, build resilience in our regions, deliver jobs and grow our critical agriculture sector.
Already over 20 projects have been funded, to supply billions of litres of water for productive use.
