Infrastructure

After a number of delays caused by bad weather and unforseen impediments, work re-commenced on the Corryong streetscape project yesterday ... "Our top priority is to ensure a seamless and organised site for the Christmas period": Vilfred Correa, project manager.

Recent changes to the proposed corridor for the 500kv Victorian New South Wales interconnector have placed additional stress on some of the region’s families as they now find themselves in the firing line ... The Bennett’s property sits between the majestic floodplain jewels, the Edward River and Billabong Creek, but now, the altered VNI West puts their generations of tranquillity in jeopardy.

Today’s Optus mass outage is a timely reminder as to why banks need to remain open in times of emergency, so people can access cash to pay for essentials, said Queensland LNP Senators Gerard Rennick and Matt Canavan. Senator Rennick said the outages affecting more than 10 million Australians brings the digital weakness into focus. “Unless people had cash on hand how many of our small businesses missed out on sales this morning?” Senator Rennick said.

The lack of a TAFE, children with special needs, the health bureaucracy, E-tag regulations, arts, rare earth mining, radiation therapy and plastics were among 16 questions asked at last week’s Country Cabinet forum in Naracoorte. During a two-day whirlwind visit SA Premier Peter Malinauskas, his ministers and all department chiefs collectively met with hundreds of people as they travelled to various special spots within our region.

The landmark federal-state CarbonNet project, which aims to take carbon dioxide emissions from the Latrobe Valley and sequester them under Bass Strait, has got the go ahead for a vital part of the project – the plan to build a pipeline that will carry liquefied CO2 to the coast. The 100 kilometre-pipeline – 80km buried onshore and a further 20km offshore – will take liquefied CO2 to a carbon capture and storage hub at Golden Beach, creating a connection for multiple carbon capture projects.

North East Water’s work has been recognised with a major award and a high commendation ... North East Water’s complex $6.5 million Beechworth project involved drilling through granite bedrock to construct a one-kilometre pipeline in Beechworth Historic Park, making it one of the longest single shot boring operations attempted through granite in Victoria.

Patrick Goldsmith. Recently released plans for a 30 metre Telstra tower on Blanche Street, Edithburgh, behind the post office, have sparked great concern among residents, with some adamant the project shouldn’t go ahead ... Telstra has said other options have been explored but these would result in a poorer product for community members, despite a report in the development application stating otherwise.

The next major step in delivering a long-term permanent water supply to Mount Morgan has been taken with Council announcing Haslin Constructions Pty Ltd as the successful tenderer for the construction works ... “As part of the tender, they also are committed to sourcing labour and materials for this project locally as much as possible which is another big win for our community”: Mayor of Rockhampton Region Tony Williams.

The  Palaszczuk Government has announced a $1.3 billion package to progress work on CopperString 2032, demonstrating Queensland’s commitment to delivering Australia’s largest transmission project. The funding will get the project ready for construction to commence mid-2024, a significant milestone towards unlocking the North West Minerals Province, and the renewable energy potential of North Queensland.

Trevor Shiell ... The community approached the [Fijian] government and got a negative response because the government had no money. Dreketi was a subsistence area of the country, so they decided to build a junior secondary school themselves ... Within a year they had a junior secondary school for 320 kids. No help from government, thank you, and they took pride and ownership of it.

Digital and agtech adoption on Australian farms has been held back by connectivity issues and digital literacy, but this complex landscape will now be easier to navigate with the launch of the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) On Farm Connectivity Information Service … will provide free, practical, tailored support for farmers through the NFF’s Regional Tech Hub – as a key pillar of the Australian Government’s $30 million On Farm Connectivity Program (OFCP).

The Naked Farmer (18-year CFA volunteer). Have you ever been a volunteer? It feels great, doesn’t it? Imagine if you were responsible for putting those volunteers’ life at added risk? For an organisation like the CFA which relies predominantly on volunteers, why wouldn’t it stop and ask the question, "Why are we allowing the added risk of Transmission Lines to our volunteers and those we serve to protect?"

CleanCo is partnering with Central Queensland Power to progress the development of the Moah Creek Wind Farm … This investment puts CleanCo on a path to supercharging its current portfolio of publicly owned generation assets connected via the state’s renewable energy backbone, the Queensland SuperGrid.

The big issues affecting the district will be spotlighted by the Naracoorte-Lucindale Council to the Premier and his ministers when the country cabinet visits the rural township this Thursday. Critical issues such as agriculture, education, roads, reliable high-speed connectivity, emergency health hub...

Telstra expects the SA Government will announce during its Country Cabinet meeting in Naracoorte a commitment to partially fund 27 mobile phone towers ... Telstra pushed for secrecy and closed doors during a presentation which rolled on for almost an hour at the October 13 meeting of the Limestone Coast Local Government Association (LCLGA) in Kingston.

Publicly owned energy company Stanwell Corporation has signed a 15-year, 380-Megawatt Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with ACCIONA Energía to purchase 100 per cent of the output from its planned Aldoga Solar Farm, 20 km north-west of Gladstone ... Stanwell plans to supply output from the Aldoga Solar Farm PPA to the proposed Central Queensland Hydrogen (CQ-H2) Project ... ARR.News has asked some questions of the companies.

The Palaszczuk Government has taken the next steps to enshrine the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan into law, with a commitment to legislate renewable energy targets, and guarantee the financial security of workers. Following months of consultation, the Energy (Renewable Transformation and Jobs) Bill 2023 was introduced to Parliament after receiving overwhelming support from the community and industry.

It had become clear that the Allora cricket oval’s playing surface was not up to the standard required and we were in danger of losing our home games to ovals in Warwick ... [the irrigation system is] finally fully operational ... highly sophisticated and totally automatic, making it easier for the hard working volunteers who maintain the oval.

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) says more than one year after Victoria’s devastating 2022 flood event, the state’s crumbling roads are worse than ever and continue to fall into disrepair.

The 180MW project, owned by Octopus and developed by RES, created 150 jobs in regional Queensland at its construction peak. State-owned CleanCo has a long-term power purchase agreement with the Dulacca Wind Farm to acquire 70 per cent of the output (or 126MW), meaning that the renewable energy generated here in the Western Downs will support CleanCo to provide affordable, clean energy to its customers.