‘Astounding waste of taxpayers' money’: Nationals senator slams hydro project

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan has slammed the Pioneer-Burdekin Pumped Hydro project saying it is an “astounding waste of taxpayers' money”.

The Queensland government has spent about $111 million buying properties and conducting technical studies for the Pioneer-Burdekin Pumped Hydro project.

“The government ... selected a $12 billion investment based on a Google Maps desktop study done by the ANU,” Mr Canavan said.

“The locals were astounded, they had no geotechnical assessment done, and nobody had walked the site to see if this was suitable apart from viewing satellite images from a Google Maps-type application.

“It is absolutely ridiculous and there’s no wonder here now that there are major questions being asked about whether this is viable.”