Endless Studies, Zero Dams

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The Urannah Dam project was cancelled by the Albanese Labor government in 2022. I wanted to see the final business case and environmental impact study (EIS) to see what they’re hiding.

The Commonwealth threw $22.65 million into the business case and approvals, then Bowen River Utilities withdrew the scheme from Queensland’s environmental assessment processes in December 2022.

When I asked why it was withdrawn, where the final business case is, and where the EIS is, the department agreed to provide it on notice. They claimed that because of “Commonwealth-state relations,” the ownership of these taxpayer-funded documents rests with the state, though they “encourage” publication. I’ve requested copies if they have access to them.

I asked if the bureaucrats are looking at the bigger picture regarding future water demand in the Burdekin Basin.

There is massive potential in the Great Australian Infrastructure Project, which would see a major steel mill established at Collinsville, along with other mills in Central Queensland. These visionary projects will have a massive appetite for water.

The department representative admitted he only knows about these vital industrial opportunities from reading the newspapers. They did note they are partnering with Queensland on a broader “Burdekin Regional Water Assessment” to look at basin-wide supply and demand, however it’s clear they are disconnected from real-world economic development.

Whether it’s Paradise Dam or Urannah Dam, we are seeing the same pattern: endless assessments, massive cost escalations, secret reports and a total lack of urgency from state and federal governments to actually build the water infrastructure Australia.

Transcript

Senator ROBERTS: Thank you all for appearing again today. I have some brief questions about water infrastructure. I’m told this needs to be asked here. Is anyone familiar with Paradise Dam?  

Senator Watt: Oh yes!  

Senator ROBERTS: It’s about the new dam wall for Paradise Dam. The last update we can find on this project is the conduct of foundation geological mapping conducted by Sunwater in November 2024. Has anything progressed beyond that and, if so, what?  

Senator Watt: While the officials are getting ready, I’ll say that this is a Queensland government project. There will be a limit to the role that this department has in that project, but obviously the officials can share whatever they have.  

Mr Darrough: The detailed business case was finalised in July 2025 and is being considered by the Queensland government. The Queensland government hasn’t submitted a proposal for the new project with the revised dam wall arrangements. Infrastructure Australia published its evaluation of the detailed business case in September 2025.  

Senator ROBERTS: Who’s funding the new dam wall and in what proportions?  

Mr Darrough: The Australian government made a commitment of $600 million; $50 million of that is contracted with Queensland to deliver early enabling works and the detailed business case, and the balance of the funding remains available in the budget.  

Senator ROBERTS: What do you expect the total cost to be? How much will the Queensland government pay?  

Mr Darrough: I think it’s on the record that it’s an estimated $4.4 billion.  

Senator ROBERTS: So the vast majority will come from the Queensland government?  

Mr Darrough: The Queensland government hasn’t put forward a proposal to the Australian government for funding.  

Senator Watt: In case you’re unaware, Senator, the commitment that our government made of $600 million was 50 per cent of the funding for—was it going to be a new dam originally? 

Mr Darrough: It was originally to reinstate the old dam wall, but, when the early work was done on that, Sunwater realised that it couldn’t be restored and that they needed to do a new dam wall downstream, so the price has been revisited. That’s also some time ago, so the estimates have gone up through escalation factors in any case.  

Senator ROBERTS: So you’re waiting on the Queensland government to get the total cost?  

Mr Darrough: Yes.  

Senator ROBERTS: Is there any formula for funding of that from federal compared to state?  

Mr Darrough: No. The National Water Grid Infrastructure Investment Framework puts in place arrangements whereby states and territories can ask for up to 50 per cent of funding for capital and construction projects, but there is no formulaic base. The level of contribution that the Australian government would make is a matter that’s decided by the government, and it’s informed by the business case evaluation from Infrastructure Australia, the proposal from Queensland and advice from the department.  

Senator ROBERTS: So, in summary, you’re waiting on the Queensland government.  

Mr Darrough: Yes.  

Senator ROBERTS: Let’s move on to Urannah Dam. It was cancelled by the Albanese Labor government in 2022, I understand. We have the preliminary business case, which was released. I don’t have the final business case and environmental impact study, which I’m assuming showed why the project was not feasible. Were these completed?  

Mr Darrough: On Urannah Dam, the then Australian government committed $22.65 million to support the business case, environmental approvals and geotech. On 16 December 2022, the delivery agent, Bowen River Utilities, announced it had withdrawn the scheme from environmental assessment processes in Queensland.  

Senator ROBERTS: Was any reason given?  

Mr Darrough: I’d need to take that on notice. The funding that was actually in the budget for construction of Urannah Dam was within the infrastructure portfolio, not the water elements that transferred to DCCEEW.  

Senator ROBERTS: In whose hands is the final business case?  

Mr Darrough: I’ll need to take that on notice.  

Senator ROBERTS: And also the environmental impact study?  

Mr Darrough: Again, I’ll take that on notice. We encourage jurisdictions to publish business cases that the Australian government contributes to, but, ultimately, the Commonwealth-state relations and the funding arrangement that we have puts ownership of those documents in the hands of the jurisdiction. It’s ultimately a matter for them to decide whether or not they publish.  

Senator ROBERTS: That’s the state?  

Mr Darrough: Yes, but we encourage in all cases that it be published.  

Senator ROBERTS: If you have access to it, may we have a copy, please?  

Mr Darrough: I’ll need to take it on notice.  

Senator ROBERTS: Yes, that’s fine. If the business case says there’s not enough use for the water, then are you aware that there’s a Project Iron Boomerang or, actually, Capricorn Steel, which is a large project—I won’t go into the details—that would involve putting a steel mill at Collinsville?  

Mr Darrough: I can talk more broadly about the Burdekin Basin, of which the Urannah area is part. The Commonwealth is partnering with Queensland on the Burdekin Regional Water Assessment, and that process is under way, looking at a basin-wide assessment of demand and supply for water in the catchment.  

Senator ROBERTS: I don’t expect you to know this, but I’ll ask it anyway. Are you aware of the potential for a steel mill at Collinsville and other steel mills in Central Queensland?  

Mr Darrough: Only from newspapers.  

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The Beginning of a Movement

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Tuesday marked the commencement of the 48th Parliament, and I’m pleased to welcome our two new Senators: Warwick Stacey from New South Wales, seated to the right of Pauline Hanson and Tyron Whitten from Western Australia, seated to my right.

As Pauline Hanson said after the recent federal election – “this is not the end of an election – it’s the start of a movement”.

Join us on the journey and help restore our nation. We’d love to have you with us.

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94,400 Young Aussie Miners at Risk

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How Net Zero Threatens the Next Generation!

Nigel Farage’s unapologetically anti-Net Zero #Reform party is making headway in Scotland.

This sounds strange.

Scotland has always been a rather left-leaning, working class, union-centric nation so for Net Zero to suddenly become a defining feature of a minor-right movement is worth a second look.

The answer is simple.

Jobs.

By 2030, it is expected that 58,000 jobs in North Sea oil and gas will be gone.

Replacing them is a meagre (and as yet unproven) 29,000 jobs in offshore wind.

There’s a real and serious concern about how many of these jobs will be filled by foreign nationals, especially as this was already happening before loopholes were closed. If offshore wind cannot convert workers locally, businesses will hire internationally.

Bureaucrats seem to believe that all forms of energy production fall under the same portfolio and that workers can wander between oil rigs and wind farms…

The truth is, just because the two industries revolve around ‘energy’ it does not follow that those employed in the oil and gas industry can change their qualifications to work in offshore wind.

Oil rig workers are highly specialised, well-trained, and experienced. Throwing their livelihoods into the dustbin in pursuit of an increasingly dodgy-sounding ‘decarbonisation’ project is starting to turn voters away from environmental fascism.

Most oil and gas workers know they’ll be forced to retire.

This is a truth Australian Unions refuse to acknowledge.

They remain prepared to throw Australian workers under the Net Zero bus.

The UK is ten years ahead of Australia when it comes to the energy ‘transition’ – and they are in a serious mess.

Net Zero has become the failure that unites Labour and the Tories.

Reform saw the truth early, and maintained its position in support of reality, workers, and sensible energy. One Nation saw the truth years before Reform even existed as a movement.

Of all the parties in the Western world on the centre-right, we were the first to warn about the dangers of Net Zero.

There is nothing modern about Net Zero. If anything, it’s an idea past its use-by date which is starting to fester and grow all sorts of nasty things.

Under Sussan Ley and David Littleproud as leaders, the partly repaired Coalition has shied away from rigorous support of Net Zero, yet they are defending ‘climate goals’ and ‘decarbonisation targets’ with the same zeal that Treasurer Jim Chalmers eyes-off super balances.

Which is the same thing.

When the next election rolls around, we will have an agreement from the major parties that Net Zero is law and the ‘transition’ is unstoppable.

Sadly, we’ll also see voters with little understanding about the source of civilisation’s trappings telling tens of thousands of young Australians who work in the coal and gas industry that they are dirty, evil, and unwanted in the ‘modern’ world.

This is not their fault. Inner-city voters have been lied to by the whole damn system, and they often lack real-world experience to combat these cruel untruths. Nor can they see the families being hurt by green policy.

The Australian Greens, for instance, want to stop fossil fuels.

Except, of course, for the coal, gas, and oil mined and shipped offshore to generate cheap energy for China so they can make solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries used in the so-called green energy revolution.

Green energy is built on fossil fuels.

This is a wasteful way of utilising Australia’s natural resources while saddling the highly skilled men and women who mine them as the villains of history.

Well, I refuse to believe that, and I refuse to allow Australian miners to be thrown out by ideologues in Canberra chasing inner-city seats.

There are 94,400 workers in the sector under 35 and 52,600 under 30.

The Greens, Labor, the Teals, and a majority of Liberals, all claim to be against this industry and yet the truth is they want these mining jobs to be shipped offshore to places like China, Africa, and the Pacific. They want someone else to benefit economically from the creation of energy and for Australians to circle the drain of consumerism until this nation becomes so dependent that it can’t so much as manufacture the shovel to dig itself out of the mess.

This is the dirty side of carbon trading.

One Nation supports Australian workers. We do not demonise them.

Our party wants young Aussies to have the same opportunity we had to turn the natural gifts of this country’s soil and rock into cheap, reliable energy for other Aussie families – including those who live in the city.

From miners to retail workers, energy is the foundation of a safe, affordable, and prosperous country.

94,400 young Aussie miners at risk by Senator Malcolm Roberts

How Net Zero threatens the next generation

Read on Substack

This article was first published on my Substack. If you enjoy in-depth content like this, consider subscribing to get future posts delivered straight to your inbox.

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I Found Out We Won—on Air!

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Politicians get told not to react like this on live media …

When a member of my team slipped a note across the desk while I was on a podcast, I just couldn’t contain my excitement.

The news was that One Nation had been declared the winner of a Senate seat for New South Wales, confirming we had doubled our representation from just Pauline Hanson and I to four senators including WA.

This was my reaction as I found out for the very first time.

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Re-Elected! Plus One Nation Increases Representation by 50%

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I want to say thank you to the people of Queensland for re-electing me to the Senate for another 6 year term.

One Nation increases it’s Senate representation by 50% with a new Senator from WA also elected, after coming agonisingly close in Victoria and South Australia.

I will continue my mission as a servant to the people of Queensland and Australia.

Transcript

I’ve just learned that I’ve been elected back into the Senate for the third time.

So first of all I want to thank the people of Queensland and the people of Australia for their confidence in me.

And secondly, I want to say that I am being elected to serve the people of Queensland and Australia and that’s what I’ll be doing.

I’ll be continuing to serve the people of Queensland, Australia, and I’ll do that with a lot of courage and a lot of character and a lot of sincerity.

And I look forward to serving with the new Senator for WA, Tyron Whitten – One Nation Senator in WA.

I look forward to working with you, mate.

So here’s to the next six years.

Official Declaration of Senate Victory

At the official declaration of my Senate victory. I had the opportunity to make a short statement.

Thank you to all Australians who chose to put One Nation somewhere on their vote – it truly mattered.

With 4 Senators now instead of 2, One Nation will be able to take your voice directly to the floor of Parliament.

Thank you to all candidates, volunteers and members – this isn’t possible without you.

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Crime Scene in the Making: Hospital Moves to Destroy COVID Vaccine Data

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The largest ever study (QoVAX) comparing COVID injected to non-injected patients has been stopped without explanation, and Queensland Health is on track to destroy all of its samples and evidence.

Losing the last evidence that could inform a truly objective assessment of the effects of the injections wouldn’t just be a tragedy, it could be a crime.

I’m putting Queensland Health bureaucrats on notice. Do NOT destroy these samples and evidence – allow the study to complete so that the data can be shared for all Australians.

Transcript

This building could become the biggest crime scene in Australia.

I’m standing outside the Queensland Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Metro North, where Queensland Health intends to cover up and destroy evidence of the COVID vaccine fraud.

In 2021, a major research project, the QoVAX study, started researching 10,600 biospecimens from donors injected with the COVID-19 injections and from donors not injected.

The study was considering effectiveness and outcomes of being injected versus non injected.

It was to be the largest study of this nature in the world to date.

After only 18 months, the $20 million programme was shut down suddenly and without warning and with no valid reason provided. The donors were not even consulted, and neither were senior scientists running the study.

Metro North now intends to destroy the data and specimens, even though they’ve been informed of pending legal action to preserve the valuable data and evidence in the samples and material.

Destroying the samples would be a crime. Punishment for all responsible could include gaol time and massive fines.

The Human Research and Ethics Committee and board members of Metro North are failing in their duty and oversight responsibilities. This may make them culpable.

Why do these bodies wish to destroy the samples and data? What are they trying to hide?

Papers are about to be completed and published for the first 18 months of the research. If the research reveals problems with the COVID shots, it would embarrass Queensland Health bureaucrats and politicians. That’s motive for destroying the samples and the evidence.

If the research reveals no problems with the shots, why would Queensland Health not release the data and conclusions?

With a $4 billion annual budget, Queensland Health’s Metro North can afford to continue storing the samples and preserve the data.

I call for this decision to be immediately withdrawn and steps taken to preserve the specimens and reinstate this vital programme to provide conclusions as to the nature and effects of the COVID injections.

I’m sending letters to raise this issue with the Premier of Queensland, the Minister for Health and the Attorney General.

This is just another reason why Prime Minister Anthony Albanese must call a royal Commission into the entire COVID response.

Letters to Queensland’s Premier, Attorney-General and Minister for Health

250521 PM-QLD-QoVAXDownload
250521 AG-QLD-QoVAXDownload
250521 HealthMinister-QLD-QoVAXDownload
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A Collaborative Approach to Fire Ant Eradication is Needed

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Before the election, I met with Sarah McGuire and other concerned landowners and introduced our fire ant policy. Sarah is a knowledgeable advocate for landowner rights and understands the fire ant eradication program details.

Landholders in SE QLD need more control over fire ant measures on their properties.

One Nation supports stronger efforts to eradicate fire ants, and believes working closely with landholders is key.

We’re calling for local workshops and tailored biosecurity plans. Landholders should have the right to refuse government programs if they can show effective alternatives.

Policy Release

Landholders should have more control of measures to manage and eradicate red imported fire ants on their properties and more assistance to comply with difficult biosecurity requirements.

One Nation Senate candidate for Queensland Malcolm Roberts said local farmers in the southeast Queensland were struggling with difficult fire ant restrictions imposed by authorities which impacted their profitability.

“Landholders in southeast Queensland need more control over what happens on their properties with regard to fire ants,” Senator Roberts said. “While One Nation supports a stronger overall effort to contain and eradicate red imported fire ants, we believe these efforts would be more effective if authorities worked more closely with landholders rather than just imposing blanket restrictions and rules for everyone.

“We’re calling for a series of local landholder and farmer workshops at which they can work with authorities and decision-makers directly and troubleshoot these issues. We’re calling for the development of individual fire ant biosecurity plans, approved by the landholder, tailored to the unique operations of every property. Implementing and complying with these plans would be the responsibility of the landholder.

“Local landholders should be able to refuse government baiting and chemical programs provided they are able to demonstrate other effective control methods with the support and guidance of authorities, and ensure fire ants cannot spread. For those who have had the pest successfully eradicated, authorities should be able to quickly provide certification to this effect and remove unnecessary restrictions on the movement of produce from these properties.

“Landholders also have concerns about the dangerous nature of some chemicals being used by the National Fire Ant Eradication Program, and want alternatives that directly target fire ant nests rather than blanketing their entire properties with these pesticides.”

Senator Roberts said One Nation would give landholders more control over eradication efforts on their properties.

“Our policy will support individual biosecurity plans for each property, with responsibility for compliance resting with the landholder,” he said. “They have every reason to ensure a pest-free property, and should be helped (and supported with funding if necessary) to implement them and comply with them. One Nation also plans to vigorously pursue questions into the effectiveness of the NFAEP, with a focus on landholder concerns, when Parliament resumes after the election.

“We will also investigate options for farmers whose profitability has been impacted by fire ant eradication to be compensated for their losses.

“One Nation has always supported the right to farm. One Nation has always known that farmers are the ones who know their land best, and how to best look after it. The NFAEP and biosecurity authorities risk alienating the very landholders they are trying to help with this heavy-handed top-down approach that ignores the wealth of expertise farmers and landholders possess.”

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Let’s Do This: Vote One Nation

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I’d be honoured to represent you in the 48th parliament.

👉 If you haven’t voted yet, save paper and get your One Nation ‘how to vote’ suggestions straight to your email or phone.

Here’s how:

1️⃣ Copy the link to your browser or open the link: https://senroberts.com/3ECWOYD

2️⃣ Type in your address or select your electorate if known.

3️⃣ Find Locations | Your ‘how to vote’ will appear on the screen, along with pre-poll and election day voting centres.

4️⃣ Type in your first name and email address or mobile phone number.

5️⃣ The ‘how to vote’ will be sent to you exactly as you would receive it at polling booths.

To vote for me in the Senate for QLD: put a [1] in the box in column Q

ONE NATION WILL PUT $40 BILLION BACK IN YOUR POCKETS!

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Voice to Parliament 2.0

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Labor wants to bring The Voice back from the dead after a majority of Australians outright rejected it in a national referendum.

It’s time to end everything that seeks to divide Australians on the basis of race and be One Nation, together.

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How to Vote ONE NATION

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Wanting to know who’s representing One Nation in your electorate for the House of Reps? Looking for details on how to vote, where to vote, or the latest updates for the 2025 election?

Head over to https://senroberts.com/427rIRM for everything you need!

If your candidate isn’t listed yet, please be patient. Our dedicated team is working tirelessly to update the information.

Help spread the word!  Share this link with everyone you know to ensure they have the information they need to vote ONE NATION!

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