Infrastructure Australia has concluded its independent evaluation of the Haughton River
Pipeline Stage Two project and has determined it will not include the project on the Infrastructure Australia Priority List at this time.

Chief Executive of Infrastructure Australia, Romilly Madew, explained that the conclusion reached by the independent advisor comes after a rigorous assessment process.

“We recognise the growing population of Townsville is putting pressure on existing water infrastructure,” Ms Madew said.

“We applaud Townsville City Council for delivering Stage 1 of the Haughton River Pipeline in order to address these water security problems for Townsville residents.”

Stage 1 of the Haughton River project involves construction of a new pipeline and the upgrade of a pump station, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.

Based on the business case presented to us for Stage 2, once these Stage 1 works are delivered there was no clear requirement for Stage 2 works at this time,” Ms Madew said.

Infrastructure Australia’s evaluation summary of Haughton River Stage 2 not only states that Townsville’s water supply issue will be addressed by Stage 1, it is also identifies a risk of water bill increases to Townsville water consumers as the result of Stage 2 proceeding.

If the project proceeds, Infrastructure Australia encourages the proponent to undertake and publish a Post Completion Review of the project to assess the extent to which the expected benefits and costs have been realised.

The full evaluation summary of Haughton River Pipeline Stage 2 project can be found on our website.

The Priority List is a collaborative document, developed using data from the 2019 Australian Infrastructure Audit and submissions from all levels of governments, industry and the community.