Iconic Strzelecki Track in line for $450m upgrade, re-elected Labor Government would pay $90m to project

IT’S a long, rough and famous stretch of dust and rock but the Strzelecki Track could soon be a major economic asset to the state after a $450 million effort to transform the dirt into bitumen.

• South Australia’s giant infrastructure wishlist
• SA election 2018: SA Liberals would upgrade Strzelecki Track
• Queensland, SA team up to seal parts of the Strzelecki Track

A RE-ELECTED Labor Government would plough $90 million into a national project to seal the Strzelecki Track in the state’s Far North.

Premier Jay Weatherill has released a report produced by federal, state and local government authorities which finds that sealing the roadway could contribute up to $1.4 billion to the South Australian economy over four decades.

Speaking in Quorn as part of a regional tour, Mr Weatherill said the State Government would pay $90 million towards the total $450 million cost of the project.

The bulk of the remaining funding would have to come from the Commonwealth, or other parties which would benefit, including the Queensland Government or Cooper Basin mining companies.

Mr Weatherill said his Government had identified the Strzelecki Track as a high priority in its 2013 Integrated Transport and Land Use Plan, and, in February 2014, submitted a proposal to Infrastructure Australia “because we recognised the incredible potential of unlocking a new freight route between South Australia and Queensland”.

South Australia would pay $90 million towards the upgrade.

The report released last night — which was commissioned by the Regional Development Authority Far North, the Outback Communities Authority and the Flinders Ranges Council — found the project would create 410 jobs.

After an uplift in activity over the decade following sealing of the roadway, the sealed road would contribute $87 million each year to the economy through growth in tourism, resources and beef road freight. This first decade would deliver the most lucrative benefits from the upgrade. That $870 million would be part of the total $1.4 billion benefit expected to be delivered to the SA economy.

The report also concludes that there would be flow-on effects which could not be measured in dollars, such as improvements to health, education, community and emergency services. Sealing of the track has been called for by outback communities, industry leaders and tourism operators for many years.

A semi-trailer on a bitumen strip of the Strzelecki Track.

On Saturday, The Advertiser revealed the SA Best party would make it a state election priority. The Opposition also supports an upgrade.

Civil Contractors Federation CEO Phil Sutherland said SA had 11 per cent of the nation’s roads but received five per cent of federal funding for roads. “A Federal Government contribution to this road project will help to right that balance,” he said. The unsealed road draws tourists from around the nation for the drive from Lyndhurst to Innamincka, in the far northeast of South Australia. “The Track” or “The Strez” is also an important, but outdated, link to major oil and gas facilities in the Cooper Basin and a key transport route for outback communities and pastoralists.

Federal Liberal MP for Grey Rowan Ramsey said SA tourism would be one of the big winners from sealing the road.

He said the findings of the report, and the commitment from the State Government, would strengthen the case for federal funding.

“Imagine, coming from Queensland across the border into SA and finding yourself on Coongie Lakes or a short run on bitumen to either Lake Eyre or the Flinders Ranges,” he said.