THE beef industry in the northern inland could double if cattlemen were given better access to water, a leading cattle industry figure told a development forum in Normanton yesterday.

 

Alister McClymont and wife Jo run a string of large cattle stations, stretching from Wernadinga near Burketown in the western Gulf country to Saxby Downs and Burleigh, north of Richmond.

 

The McClymonts have already proved the value of water with the construction of a large dam, part of a pioneering and highly successful pasture program on Wernadinga.

 

Mr McClymont told the Northern Outback Development Forum the state's northwest grazing land was under-developed and understocked by 40 to 50 per cent.

 

``I think there is the potential to run double the numbers of cattle we do now. One way to do it is to have more water for cattle,'' he said.

 

Mr McClymont said graziers in the northern inland in many cases ran large herds, sometimes more than 20,000 and 30,000 head.

 

He said it was not possible to move these volumes of cattle in times of drought.

 

The key to keeping them alive and on their home properties was water for fodder production.

``With irrigation you can have some sort of say in how you handle drought,'' he said.

 

About 200 people, including many local government identities, attended the meeting. Two of the scheduled speakers, Murrandoo Yanner from the Carpentaria Land Council and Noel Pearson from the Northern Land Council were unable to make it, and cancelled on Tuesday.

 

Richmond transport operator Mick Pattell from the National Road Freighters Association told the forum remote communities in the Gulf not serviced by rail would find it increasingly difficult to survive as ``bureaucrats in Canberra'' placed more and more costs on truckers.

 

``Registration has increased 64 per cent since the 1980s. We are losing ground rapidly. Owners are being overcome with regulations and charges,'' he said.

 

``Places like Normanton and Burketown will find it difficult to survive if these costs are not brought down.''

 

CS Energy's Mica Creek Power Station site manager Greg Dale told the audience the facility had a generating capacity of 325mW.

 

He said the power station's oldest units were nearing the end of their life and needed to be replaced.

 

He said existing customer contracts would expire in 2013 and 2014 and it was now time for the state-owned power station to find secure, new contracts and to start installing new plant.

 

Projected power requirements for the northwest during the next 20 years were estimated to be in the vicinity of 350mW and 400mW.

 

Liberal Senator Russell Trood said there was immense wealth in the northwest, but added it was a region with a low population base. He said this explained in part why the region received so little attention from government.

 

Kennedy MP Bob Katter reminded the audience the Howard government for more than a decade failed to come close to delivering on water opportunities for the northern inland.

 

By John Anderson