Letter to the Editor

24 May 2018
Dear Editor,
Irrigation schemes from our Gulf and mid-west towns have grown dramatically closer with the “acute national petrol and diesel supply shortages”.
The NRMA (four times bigger than Queensland’s RACQ) reported fuel supply was down to 23 days.
Last week, Minister Frydenberg said it’s now (three years later) at 20 days. When it hits 16 days, panic-buying and chaos will follow.
Hughenden’s HIPCO board have met this week, with construction contractors to finalise a proposal to go to Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF).
The NAIF was allocated $5,000 million after a promise in the 2013 election, but after five-and-a-half years, not one cent of it has been spent.
Hughenden will provide NAIF with the template for Richmond, Cloncurry, Julia Creek, Normanton, Georgetown and Ravenshoe.
The current Qld Government is the most anti-development, anti-jobs, anti-prosperity government in Qld’s history and will never agree to we “the people” actually owning the land – being able to use and diversify it for the greater wealth of Qld.
The shrinkage of national fuel storage has led to the Federal Parliament’s National Security Committee demanding action within six months. HIPCO’s proposed 8,000 hectares of irrigation with 3,000 devoted to Canola and Rapeseed would ensure an annual three million litres of biodiesel.
So this puts the irrigation under the Federal Government, who is now under real pressure to act.
God bless you all,

Hon Bob Katter MP
Federal Member for Kennedy