One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is demanding the immediate scrapping of the Snowy Hydro 2.0 project in the Snowy Mountains region.

The call for cancellation comes as the project faces massive cost overruns, raising questions about the viability of the government's energy infrastructure spending.

Costs for the hydroelectric project have ballooned to an estimated $42 billion [1]. This figure represents a cost increase of approximately 21 times the original public estimate [2].

Aidan Morrison, the director of energy research at the CIS, said Pauline Hanson is right for demanding the project be scrapped. Morrison highlighted the scale of the budget failure as a primary reason for the cessation of work.

"I think you just need to tell everyone thanks for trying, pack up your desk, don’t pack up your tools, just go straight home," Morrison said.

The project was designed to expand Australia's renewable energy capacity through pumped hydro storage. However, the disparity between the initial forecasts and the current $42 billion [1] estimate has fueled political opposition. The project's financial trajectory has become a focal point for critics of the current energy transition strategy, particularly those arguing against large-scale government expenditure on failing infrastructure.

“The project’s cost has ballooned to an estimated $42 billion.”

The controversy surrounding Snowy Hydro 2.0 reflects a broader tension in Australian energy policy between the goal of transitioning to renewables and the fiscal reality of large-scale engineering projects. When a project exceeds its original budget by 21 times, it creates a political opening for parties like One Nation to challenge the economic competence of the state's green energy initiatives.