A proposed $12bn pumped hydro scheme in Queensland has sparked controversy, as residents in the Pioneer Valley near Mackay react with fury to the expected property resumptions and what they see as the possible destruction of the surrounding environment. 

This has resulted in a rally, held on Saturday at Bluewater Quay, opposing the scheme. The event featured a line-up of One Nation’s best, Senator Malcolm Roberts and former Dawson MP and One Nation senate candidate George Christensen.

Leila Verban, the founder of NO Hydro Save Netherdale/Eungella/Mt Dalrymple, has said the rally was a protest focused on opposing the proposed hydro scheme. Ms Verban’s Netherdale property in the Pioneer Valley is set to be wiped out by the mammoth 5GW Pioneer-Burdekin battery, one of about 50 homes in the project’s firing line. 

The project is viewed as an unfeasible distraction of Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk by many, including One Nation MPs and members. The Premier is seen as clutching at straws towards the end of a tenure stained by infrastructure slumber.

Australia has never successfully built a utility-scale pumped hydro. The $10 billion-plus disaster of Snowy Hydro 2.0 which Senator Roberts questioned at estimates just recently proves how impractical pumped hydro can be. 

Like Snowy 2.0, Queensland Hydro is barely a thought bubble that now must find details to progress to reality.