Newsroom

April 26, 2022

KATTER’S Australian Party candidate, Clynton Hawks, has welcomed the announcement that Townsville will be the home to a new hydrogen hub but says it should not be contingent on the LNP taking power at the May election. 

“I applaud the work that has been done by the consortium, the Townsville Bulletin and the business community in getting this over the line.” 

But Mr Hawks said the public has the right to be suspicious about the timing of the announcement, as it seems to fly in the face of statements made by the Herbert member to date. 

"We need to be treating this announcement with due caution. 

“It was always mystifying to me why the federal LNP member came out in September to say Townsville was ‘not ready’ to be a hydrogen hub even though we clearly were and the work on the ground had been done. 

“Then we had the federal incumbent for Herbert on the 2nd of December announce that Townsville has been merely deemed a ‘hydrogen cluster.’ 

“He re-iterated the position at the Chamber of Commerce debate on the 16^th of March that Townsville cannot be classified as a Hydrogen hub.  

“Isn’t it interesting that less than four weeks out from an election, during an election campaign no less, Townsville is suddenly ready.”  

Mr Hawks said the public is becoming increasingly cynical about federal leaders making big announcements and not following through, and worries about what would happen to he hub concept if the city doesn’t have a strong advocate pushing it in government. 

“Clearly, the take-away is that Townsville only matters when an election is called.  The rest of the time we seem to be the ones who miss out. 

“We need a member who is able to smash on the door of whoever is Prime Minister to ensure these evidence-based, community-driven projects get up.”