Charters Towers Not For Sale steering committee negotiate an inspection of Pentland site

This comes on top of news that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has ordered the department to scout out alternative areas for expanded military training grounds currently earmarked for central Queensland.

Queensland opposition leader Tim Nichols said this morning that Mr Turnbull had confirmed the direction had been given during a lengthy conversation between the two men.

Charters Towers steering committee member John Brownson said they had been working hard to get the suggestion of the purchase of Longton Station, south of Pentland, on the radar with the department.

“We’ve been trying to organise an inspection with the army and the owners, and it looks like that will go ahead on February 13,” Mr Brownson said. “The Camm family (owners of Longton Station) is agreeable and it looks like a good move forward.”

In the meantime, Mr Brownson and his steering committee called for deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce to extend his visit to Rockhampton on Friday and undertake his own inspection of the situation at Charters Towers at the same time.

“We have been feeling a little bit left out, especially as what we’re proposing here means there’s enough room to accommodate every need,” he said.

“You’ve got a million acres on offer here – that would solve Shoalwater’s problems as well, and it would cost much less.

“This idea would be one-twentieth of what they want to do now.”

Longton station is 115km in a straight line west of the current Townsville Field Training Area.

“We think Barnaby should make it a priority to come up here – we’ve got a property that would fix the whole thing,” Mr Brownson said. “And there’d probably be another grazier that would entertain selling too.”

The Charters Towers Regional Council issued a media release on Thursday morning, requesting the defence department continue to keep them “informed and engaged where and when necessary by providing regular updates in relation to the proposed acquisition”. 

According to mayor Liz Schmidt, the council has had limited engagement with the department to date.

“There is a need for Defence to work with council in good faith in relation to this proposed acquisition as it will have significant impact on the region’s economy,” she said.

She also said her council supported the families and those landowners that are to be impacted by the potential acquisition of land within the Charters Towers Regional Council area, around 23 landholders and 200,000ha of land.

According to the defence department’s website, the Shoalwater Bay and Townsville Field Training Areas were chosen because of their size and proximity to major force locations and east coast centres.

“Identifying a remote parcel of land for Singapore Armed Forces training was considered during development of the agreement, but was dismissed due to the limited benefit for the Australian Defence Force,” the statement says.

It noted that the ocean access at Shoalwater Bay meant it was one of the only training areas in Australia that could support amphibious operations training.

“At present, the existing layouts and size of Shoalwater Bay and Townsville Field Training Areas do not provide sufficient flexibility for the Australian Defence Force to accommodate multiple range users at one time.

“Expanding both training areas allows for concurrent training by the Australian Defence Force and other visiting forces including the Singapore Armed Forces.”