FORMER Queensland director-general of agriculture, Jack Noye, has been appointed to the Board of Granite Belt Water Limited as it continues to work towards delivery of Emu Swamp Dam and associated critical water infrastructure.
Mr Noye, who served as chief executive of Trade and Investment Queensland until 2016, and has held numerous senior roles across government and military.
The Granite Belt Irrigation Project will deliver the first new dam built in Queensland in a decade at Emu Swamp, south-west of Stanthorpe, and 117km of pipeline to provide water to 51 agribusiness customers.
With water security a current restraint on the region, the project is poised to boost the value of annual gross agricultural production by $68 million and create 700 long-term jobs in farming and support industries, while growing the Granite Belt's contribution to the supply of high-quality and safe food.
Granite Belt Water chairman Dan Hunt, who is also a previous director-general of several agencies and former chair of SEQWater, said he was delighted Mr Noye had joined the board.
"To bring someone with Jack's knowledge and experience, and an intimate understanding of the urgent need for greater investment in water infrastructure, into our ongoing work will be utterly invaluable," Mr Hunt said.
"We're delighted to have him working with us on what we believe is one of the most important pieces of infrastructure currently proposed in Queensland, particularly within the context of the current catastrophic drought and our responsibility to plan for the future."
Mr Hunt said the board was also seeking local stakeholders to help steer the project, taking positions on the customer sub-committee and audit, risk and finance sub-committee.
"This project will be transformational for the Granite Belt so it is imperative we tap into local skills and knowledge as we work towards providing the region with this enormous opportunity to grow and prosper," he said.
The project has committed funding of $23.4m from local irrigators, $47m from the Australian Government and a conditional commitment of $13.6m from the Queensland Government.
