Almost two-thirds of the 1000km onshore pipeline will run through land which comes under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act. between Wadeye and the Alcan Gove alumina refinery expansion on the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Tollner believes the pipeline project has the potential to provide communities with roads, clean energy, new mining jobs and general improvements in employment, health and welfare, but has called for an additional public road to be constructed alongside the pipeline.

With an initial capacity of 40 petajoules the pipeline will cross two highways, one railway, a number of rivers and more than ten HDD crossings are anticipated.

Contractors have been short listed and construction is expected to take place during the dry seasons in 2005 and 2006.