Carpentaria’s Biggest City
An Australian Winter is a nice time to visit North Queensland. On Townsville’s doorstep sits the Great Barrier Reef.
The CBD sits on the north shore of the Ross River, which drains into Cleveland Bay – a shallow port with no surf, like all the coastal beaches protected by the Reef. So no body surfing for me, unfortunately. My friendly tour guide took me upstream to a weir where we met a friendly crocodile.
The city surrounds Castle Hill – a great lookout point.
Townsville is a significant military base.
History
Townsville was founded in 1864 as a port for the pastoral industry in North Queensland and became the principal center of the region following the discovery of gold. It was declared a municipality in 1866 and has a rich history, including significant military involvement during World War II.
The Queens Hotel sits empty and is under threat of demolition.
What is Carpentaria?
Carpentaria is a proposed new northern state. Townsville, with a population of 204,541 would be the largest city.
By combining the Northern Territory, North Queensland and a section of Western Australia, a state with a viable tax base and economy would be created. Second in size to Western Australia, larger than Tasmania in population, Carpentaria would be a resource powerhouse, lifting the burden off WA’s contributions to the Commonwealth’s coffers. By developing the North, Carpentaria represents an opportunity for Australia to properly adapt to its arid environment and climate warming by making the north an attractive alternative to the drying, heating and overcrowded south. This is not a solution to population growth. It’s a solution to sustainably living on the world’s driest inhabited continent.
Economy
Townsville’s economy is diverse, with key sectors including defence, administration, health and education, manufacturing, tourism, energy, transport, and logistics. It is also a major industrial hub, known for refining zinc, copper, and nickel, and is a national leader in renewable energy projects.
Kidston Hydro Battery
The Kidston Hydro Battery, 384 km inland from Townsville, makes use of two abandoned gold mine pits that date back to 1901. They were not environmentally remediated and filled up with rainwater until it was realized the two pits are perfect for a hydro battery, one sitting about 100 meters above the other. A solar farm was installed beside them and the excess electricity is stored by pumping water from the lower pit to the higher pit. A huge engineering feat worth $777 million dollars. The power will be sent through a 180km line to the national grid. This is the sort of infrastructure project a northern State of Capricornia could better coordinate across the north, leading to development of resources (such as uranium) and help Australia become more self-sufficient, generate sovereign wealth and adapt to climate warming by enabling domestic migration from the drying south to the north were water and power are more abundant.
For more information about Carpentaria, look out for my new, soon-to-be-published book, Australian Renaissance. Meanwhile, some early ideas can be seen HERE.
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