RAFA Richmond and Flinders Alliance

06/03/2026

A great article, to read in full click on the link in the comments below. Thanks The North West Star

Has state government's 'culture of no' on water projects ended?

06/03/2026

A great article, to read in full click on the link in the comments below. Thanks North Queensland Register

A stalled Qld dam project is back with a new plan and determined new leaders.

https://www.northqueenslandregister.com.au/story/9191576/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=post

06/03/2026

A great article, to read in full click on the link in the comments below. Thanks Queensland Country Life

Has state government's 'culture of no' on water projects ended?

02/03/2026

UPDATE - Richmond and Flinders Alliance (RAFA) is a collaborative partnership between Flinders and Richmond Shire Councils, established to pursue their shared goal of water security for the Hughenden-Richmond region.

RAFA Chair, Flinders Shire Council Mayor, Kate Peddle: “This region has long held a clear vision for water security and growth. Through RAFA, Richmond Mayor John Wharton and I are now driving a single, coordinated regional effort backed by existing expert knowledge and advice - and we are absolutely determined to secure long-term water solutions for our children and for generations to come.”

RAFA is a powerful collaboration of dedicated expertise, with critical local government knowledge, participation and leadership. It is a consolidation of combined resources and efforts to identify and develop the optimum opportunities for improving water security within the Richmond and Flinders Shires, and to provide a united, influential voice from the greater region to State and Federal Governments.

The former HIPCo specialist team will be maintained, who has developed significant local knowledge and made major progress over the past seven years, continuing to contribute established expert engineering and management teams.

The creation of RAFA reflects important shifts in ongoing efforts to progress water infrastructure within the Richmond-Hughenden region. This continued steadfast commitment to adapting, aligning and advocating for community benefit has always guided this work, and remains central to what is now RAFA.
.information .peddle.for.mayor

23/12/2024

From all of us at HIPCo, wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Our primary focus this year has been working collaboratively with local Councils, and participating in the State Government’s Regional Water Assessment & Gulf Water Plan Review processes.

As we look ahead to 2025, we’re committed to keeping up the momentum and hope to see more clarity around water infrastructure projects in our region.

09/09/2024

Another fantastic must-read story in the North Queensland Register this week by Sally Gall, that HIPCo has secured government funding to continue our valuable work. Read below or see the link in comments:

-- Although its tender for water was terminated in April, the Hughenden Irrigation Project Corporation has secured state government funding for the next three years.

The reason for the termination was said to be due to the government's decision to bring forward a review of the Gulf Water Plan, including a $4 million Regional Water Assessment, which HIPCo chair Jeff Reid said at the time was frustrating but not surprising.

"The Minister's own report on the health of the Gulf Water Plan stated that it required review, as it was not delivering outcomes for irrigated agriculture and critical minerals in the Flinders region," he said.

The decision is delaying HIPCo's water project, as it has no path to water, but Mr Reid said they also saw positives as the planning instruments were finally aligning to allow a project of regionally significant size to be constructed.

"Since the government announcements, HIPCo has had many discussions at many levels of government to ensure our knowledge and learnings are not lost," he said.

"We are very pleased to announce that our efforts have resulted in HIPCo securing funding for the next three years to work alongside the government as they reassess the Gulf Water Plan and complete the Regional Water Assessment, to better enable projects such as irrigated agriculture and critical minerals development in the region.

"The government has expressed high confidence and value in the work done by the HIPCo team and has provided us with funding to keep our knowledge accessible and current and have practical input into the options under consideration."

Mr Reid said that while that work continued, their preferred project was only on hold, not dead.

Key milestones of HIPCo's new work program over the next three years include undertaking options assessments, looking at other water supply projects in the region, engineering studies for shortlisted options, sustainability and cultural updates, and a review of the cropping strategy and investor update.

"As the outcomes of the Gulf Water Plan review and Regional Water Assessment become available, we will update our business case to ensure alignment and make sure the best projects are then taken to the next stage of construction," Mr Reid said.

"This major development demonstrates that not-for-profit HIPCo is alive, respected, and working with all levels of government to get the best outcomes possible from the Gulf Water Plan review.

"We are optimistic that the next version of the Gulf Water Plan will allow many more options and deliverable sustainable water projects for the benefit of the region and the stakeholders."

Mr Reid also said water projects were complicated and took a long time to bring to fruition, and were best done through expert guidance, collaboration and cooperation, and most importantly determination.

"We have all these elements in place now," he said.

HIPCo announced last week that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Flinders Shire Council on collaborative water harvesting undertakings, and hoped that more shires would come on board so that a united front could be presented to the government for funding requests.

North Queensland Register

Hughenden irrigation group has funding guaranteed for three years.

03/09/2024

Read below a great article in yesterday's North Queensland Register by Sally Gall about the recent MOU signing between HIPCo and the Flinders Shire Council -

The Hughenden Irrigation Project Corporation and the Flinders Shire Council have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on collaborative water harvesting undertakings, and there are hopes that more shires will come on board.

‘Game-changing’ is how HIPCo chairman Jeff Reid described the MoU with the Flinders Shire, which he said will see the two groups work together to research and advocate for optimal economic and community outcomes in harvesting and utilising water resources, and support only the best projects for further consideration.

He said that rather than three or four groups along the Flinders River all “paddling our own canoes”, to the detriment of all when it came to government consideration, HIPCo was trying to get all agencies to pull in the same direction.

That could mean that the Richmond shire would have to promote a project in the McKinlay shire, if it was found to be the most optimal, or McKinlay may have to do the same for something in the Flinders Shire.

HIPCo has been working on an irrigated agriculture scheme west of Hughenden, the Flinders Shire has advocated for an off-stream water storage project, and the Richmond Shire Council has been seeking a 100,000 megalitre water allocation from the state government and a $100 million grant from the federal government to kickstart a water capture and irrigated farming project in its region.

Mr Reid said the Richmond Shire had reacted positively to the idea and HIPCo was presenting it to the McKinlay Shire Council this week, explaining that it was better to present a united point of view rather than a number of small ideas.

“Doing it the way we have been makes it easy for government to say, if you can’t pull together, how can we work with you”, he said. “It’s a matter of not being so parochial.”

The plan is to have a working group in which all the different plans will be investigated and prioritised, in what Mr Reid expected would be a robust discussion.

A number of factors have brought the idea into being - the decision by the state government in January to review the Gulf Water Plan, which in turn canned HIPCo’s tender for the release of unallocated water in the Flinders River catchment, and news in August that HIPCo has secured state government funding for the next three years.

“HIPCo’s a small technical group – we’re funded to pay water experts, so we can feed expert opinions in to councils,” Mr Reid said.

“We’ll be offering advice only, not making any decisions.

“We might lay everything out on a spreadsheet, and it might be that two small projects get the tick.”

He hoped the process would take six months.

Acting Flinders Shire mayor Niki Flute said it was exciting to see such collaboration for the first time.

“We would be happy to see any project go forward - if we can harness any water along the Flinders River, that’s a good thing,” she said. “Promoting individual projects makes it look to government that we’re all in competition with each other.”

Mr Reid said the single focus for planning in the Flinders Shire had been made possible via the leadership of mayor Kate Peddle, a former HIPCo director.

“(She) has firsthand experience with the problems of developing a large water project and has also seen the council’s water project being unable to proceed,” he said.

“The council’s off-stream storage water bank project was unable to attract the required government funding, due to the limited number of commercial beneficiaries,” he said.

“The HIPCo project outlined in the business case was not able to proceed as we could not secure the required volume of water.

“The new mayor has opened the way for a new collaborative period to harness the water in the most sustainably economic way for the benefit of the people of the region.”

“Mr Reid hoped it would ultimately lead to a strategic plan for the future release of water in the Flinders River.

“The last time there were water tenders, they went to the highest bidder,” he said. “Our voice can say loudly, that didn’t work.”

North Queensland Register Hughenden Connect (Flinders Shire Council)

The Hughenden Irrigation Project Corporation and the Flinders Shire Council have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on collaborative...

16/08/2024

Very pleasingly, a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed between HIPCo and the Flinders Shire Council to work collaboratively to research and advocate for optimal economic and community outcomes in harvesting and utilising water resources with the Flinders Shire, and support only the best projects for further consideration.

This has been publicised recently and it’s a game changer as there is now one focus for the planning in the region.

This MOU has been made possible through the leadership of the new Mayor, Kate Peddle, who was a former HIPCo director, and has firsthand experience with the problems of developing a large water project and has also seen Council’s water project being unable to proceed.

The Council’s Off Stream Storage (OSS) Water Bank project was unable to attract the required government funding, due to the limited number of commercial beneficiaries. The HIPCo project outlined in the business case was not able to proceed as we could not secure the required volume of water. The new Mayor has opened the way for a new collaborative period to harness the water in the most sustainably economic way for the benefit of the people of the region.

HIPCo is very encouraged by the openness of the Flinders Shire Council to work in unison and looks forward to this productive partnership.

MAYOR KATE PEDDLE FLINDERS Hughenden Connect (Flinders Shire Council) Everyone ⊕

16/08/2024

We’re excited to announce that HIPCo has secured funding for the next 3 years to integrate our valued expertise and input working alongside Government as they reassess the Gulf Water Plan and complete the Regional Water Assessment, to better enable projects as irrigated agriculture and critical minerals development in the region.

The Government has expressed high confidence in the depth of our knowledge base, and we will be providing practical input into the options under consideration. Although the HIP project is currently on hold, we remain dedicated to contributing our unique perspective and experience throughout the various review processes.

Our work program will include undertaking options assessments, looking at other water supply projects in the region, engineering studies for shortlisted options, sustainability and cultural updates, a review of the cropping strategy, plus more.

This positive major development demonstrates that not-for-profit HIPCo is alive, respected, and working with all levels of government to get the best outcomes possible from the Gulf Water Plan review. We are optimistic that the next version of the Gulf Water Plan will allow more options and deliverable sustainable water projects for the benefit of the region.

Stay posted for more updates.

Everyone ⊕

24/04/2024

We will remember them.

11/04/2024

Interesting listening - hear HIPCo Chair, Jeff Reid, being interviewed by Emily Dobson on ABC radio sharing HIPCo’s insights about the Gulf Water Plan review, and what this means for the Hughenden irrigation project.

The interview was aired yesterday on the ABC North West Queensland breakfast program, and Tuesday’s Queensland Country Hour.

Tap on the image to play audio, or click on the link in comments below.

Thanks to ABC Radio for your interest.
ABC Rural ABC News

11/04/2024

HIPCo on the front page of today’s North Queensland Register. To read more - click on the link in comments below.

Thank you North Queensland Register for your interest.