Chairman’s Report 2025

8th December 2025

Re: Chairman Report for AGM December 2024

Yet another year has passed and this is now my 9th Chairman’s report after agreeing to the chairman’s role for a 2-year period.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all BCE members for your input and a special thanks to Addy for the secretary work she does, Also, thanks to Kylie who is our official Secretary, John as role of Treasure and Rob as Vice Chair.

I would also like to thank the Whitsunday Regional Council for their ongoing support and assisting with funding to cover our expenses for the year. I also acknowledge our strong support from Mayor Ry Collins and councillor John Findlay and councillor Michelle Wright who always find time to attend our BCE meetings and are active supporters of BCE. I thank our WRC manager of investment attraction and growth, Paul Hanlon for his commitment to BCE, Paul and his team are always open to discussions and work actively on economic projects across the region.

This year, BCE continued to work on our 5 priority projects as per below.

Bowen Boat Harbour
At last, it seems we may have movement at the station and the Master Plan for the Bowen harbour is starting to proceed, Under the revised timeline submitted by the LNP government, tenders for an external consultant to lead the planning and engagement process are being awarded to allow work early in the new year. The TMR minister has committed to full community engagement and committed to hearing BCE ideas as part of this consultation. It is very important we get this completed ASAP as it feeds into the new Bowen Jetty and the Masterplan for the front beach area. I met with Dale Last and he has committed to follow up with the TMR minister this week to make sure the work is on track.

Front Beach – Bowen Jetty
We have seen this move forward this year with a plan in place to replace the jetty. NQBP have completed a very though consultation process using ARUP consultants and signed off on a design plan. NQBP have started work on all the red and green tape that needs to be completed before construction can start. This includes numerous surveys and studies. The challenge will be not spending all the $68M on studies and still having funds left to actual build the new jetty. There is still no firm start date for construction, and the risk is any further delays could see funding deferred as this seems to be the norm with Government funding. BCE will continue to lobby to get actual construction started in 2026.

Bowen Pipe Line – Water for Bowen

Bowen Pipeline Company has continued to complete the work required to get this project approved and started. From discussions with their CEO, Sean Brown, the following is a update on where this project is sitting.
1. Anticipate State Ministerial (MID) approval draft conditions on the 12th December 2025;
2. Federal environmental approvals will pop out a few months later after the MID;
3. Sunwater and Department of Water are working through their processes to provide water supply (target date, March 2026);
4. Water Sales will commence after Sunwater water supply agreement is signed. Water Sales will take 3 months;
5. Application for a Federal construction grant (up to 50% through NWGA) will be lodged – standard for all water projects in the country;
6. 32 contractors have been met for supply and lead contractors – Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) well advanced;
7. Procurement and Logistics team selection underway;
8. Discussions with potential cornerstone investors well advanced;
9. Bank financing and NAIF discussions well advanced;
10. Target date for start of construction (minor works) November 2025;
11. Operational 2 years after construction start.

Urannah Dam is still a viable project, and we need to keep all levels of Government advised of why we need to take this project forward. It will be very difficult under the current Federal government due to labour’s relationship with the greens and their opposition to dams. It is also hard to justify when it keeps raining and there seems to be adequate water for current industry across our region at this stage. The wet season has not started yet however Peter Faust dam is at 76%, Burdekin at 82% and Eungella at 90%.

State Development area
Abbot Point Operation continue to be the main business in this area and they have continued to export coal with a total of 34.4M tonnes of coal for the FY.

Gilmore Space had their first Rocket off the ground this year and are set for the second launce in the 1st quarter of 2026. Hopefully by this time next year we have a Rocket launched into space from the Bowen Launce site.

State development area still needs future development and this year we meet with Office of coordinator General to discuss options. BCE requested that the Abbot Point Activation working group be reformed and that we get a seat on this group to help with the Strategy for this area. The OCG have agreed and are setting up this working group in the new year The function of this working group is to provide input and ideas to support broader activation of the Abbot Point SDA.

Whitsunday Paradice – Housing
The big news in this area is the announcement from the Queensland state government $33 million grant for the “Build Bowen South Utilities” project, a major sewerage infrastructure upgrade for Bowen, via its Residential Activation Fund. This funding is dedicated to building a new 30km sewer main, constructing five new sewage pump stations, and upgrading existing infrastructure to support future housing and development in the area. Congratulations to the WRC and Whitsunday Paradice in securing this grant and I trust once this project is completed, it will initiate several new houses in this area.

Thanks again to all our members and I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy new year

 

Regards
Paul McLaughlin
Chairperson
Bowen Collinsville Enterprise