Melbourne to Brisbane rail will fire up Queensland economy

The idea of a 1700km inland rail has finally come to fruition after 23 years, writes Michael Madigan.

AUSTRALIA’S largest infrastructure project is finally under way.

If you have not heard of the 1700km Melbourne to Brisbane Inland Rail, you will have by next month.

Politicians engaged in the 2019 federal election campaign are guaranteed to begin appearing on evening news bulletins in fluoro vests somewhere in regional NSW, spruiking the economic benefits of a project that has been a gleam in the eye of nation builders for more than a century.

If all goes well, sometime in 2024/25, the first large, double-stacked trains will begin moving produce at low freight costs.

They will wind their way from Melbourne through rural Victoria and NSW, then up past Toowoomba’s Wellcamp Airport, right into the Port of Brisbane, where their cargo will continue on to world export markets.

Deputy PM Michael McCormack and former Deputy-PM Warren Truss wielding the shiny shovels in Parkes, NSW. Picture: Twitter

Two years after receiving a $9.5 billion Federal Budget allocation, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack officiated at an official inland rail sod-turning ceremony at Parkes, NSW, last December.

THE FIRST SPIKE

The “grandfather’’ of inland rail, Everald Compton, who walked into the office of the newly minted PM John Howard in 1996 and convinced him to back the ambitious project, regarded the ceremony with a baleful eye, boycotting the occasion despite a personal invitation to attend.

One of the reasons for Compton’s churlishness was that he had already been to a sod turning, 18 years ago.

Compton, 87, assisted then deputy prime minister and National Party leader, John Anderson, to nail a silver spike into the ground near Goondiwindi to mark the start of “work’’ on the inland rail project in 2001.

Apparently the spike is still there.

Compton understands there will always be politics in such a massive undertaking, even stops and starts that span nearly two decades.

But he grows increasingly impatient with the hoopla surrounding a project that he wants to take from perception to reality, as fast as possible.

He sees the rail not simply as a key driver of prosperity in the 21st century by providing a direct link between Melbourne and Brisbane ports.

Compton also sees it as an impetus to open up the fertile eastern interior, similar to how America opened up the mid-west in the 19th century.

“McCormack invited me to go in December but I didn’t because I saw it purely as a political exercise anyway, designed to shore up support in McCormack’s seat,’’ growls the gravel-voiced Compton, the founding director of National Seniors Australia, who has been an influential figure in Australian politics for half a century.

Compton said work on the rail should have begun in the NSW-Queensland border country to secure the vital link between the two states, which he said could be completed in a few short years.

The inland railway was the brainchild of Everald Compton. Picture: Russell Shakespeare

POLITICAL PLOY

McCormack, the Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, confirmed Compton was invited to the sod-turning ceremony as an acknowledgment of his long-term contribution to inland rail.

But McCormack denies the sod turning was a purely political exercise.

“The Parkes to Narromine leg was chosen as the best place to hold this event because it was deemed to be an appropriate location, with an existing track being upgraded and proximity to farming regions that are looking forward to its delivery,’’ McCormack said.

“It was also shovel-ready with all construction approvals in place.’’

If all goes well, sometime in 2024/25, the first large, double-stacked trains will begin moving produce at low freight costs.

Richard Wankmuller, Inland Rail CEO, who reports to the Australian Rail and Track Corporation tasked with building the inland rail, said Compton was not quite right in suggesting the missing link between Moree and Toowoomba could be built in two years. He said the Queensland Government had not signed on the dotted line approving the route.

“There is a great deal of very important design work and consultation with the community to be done to get this right, and nothing can be built until Queensland signs on to inland rail,’’ Wankmuller said.

“We are building Parkes to Narromine now because it is important to get on with what we can. This is a multibillion-dollar, multi-year project in an infrastructure market that is very competitive.’’

Queenslanders should not underestimate the value of the project, which has potential to spark real economic growth and employment opportunities in the Sunshine State.

Companies are already making targeted decisions on where to invest serious money based on the proposed route.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the rail would open inland regional communities to investment and export opportunities.

“Inland rail will connect rural and regional Australia to millions of customers at home and overseas through key domestic and rapidly expanding international markets,’’ Morrison said.