Business, government and the Townsville community came together on Tuesday 10 August for an important forum on making North Queensland a world leader in solar power. The Australian Conservation Foundation and Townsville Enterprise, supported by Townsville City Council, brought together key stakeholders in renewable energy generation to discuss large-scale solar power plants in North Queensland. One hundred people turned out to hear speakers including Cr Les Tyrell OAM, Mayor of Townsville City Council; Trevor Goldstone, CEO of Townsville Enterprise; and Don Henry, Executive Director of the Australian Conservation Foundation. Building on several solar successes in Townsville, including the solar cities program, both business and the community were keen to take hold of new opportunities for large-scale solar. Candidates in the upcoming federal election from the Coalition, Labor and the Greens also spoke on their parties efforts to support large-scale solar. ACF report, Building Australia’s Big Solar Industry, was also released at the Forum. It outlines several sites in north Queensland that could take advantage of a region that receives one of the world’s highest amounts of solar energy.