Senators hear potential benefits of Gladstone rail link
Federal senators gathered in Gladstone to hold an inquiry hearing into the feasibility of the Inland Rail link to Gladstone.
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The case for extending the Inland Rail to Gladstone has been presented to the Senate, with possible route and funding options proposed.
Senators gathered in Gladstone to consider submissions made by the local council and Regional Development Australia about the potential to get the multi-billion dollar project from Toowoomba to Gladstone, instead of the current proposed route to Brisbane.
Attending was Labor senator Anthony Chisholm, LNP senator Susan McDonald and One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts.
Senator Pauline Hanson phoned in.
Deputy chair of Regional Development Australia and project manager for the Central Queensland Region Organisation of Councils (CQROC) John Abbott said the Toowoomba to Gladstone link would cost about $3 billion to $3.5 billion, which would save costs significantly.
This is after the cost of the project as a whole was blown out from $10 billion to $14.5 billion.
The Gladstone Link is estimated to be $3.8 billion cheaper and could be delivered three years earlier, according to Gladstone mayor and Labor Flynn candidate Matt Burnett.
The meeting heard the Gladstone Port had the ability to export 22 million containers by 2050.
It would create at least 600 construction jobs and 200 operational jobs, which could be bumped up to 3000 and 1200 respectively if new coal mines were opened because of the Inland Rail.
According to Inter-Port Global CEO Des Euen, the cost of shipping a container from Gladstone would be ‘far cheaper’ than the $700 cost of a 40ft container from Brisbane.
The port has ‘virtually infinite’ capacity for expansion, room for 24 additional berths, ample space behind them, no urban issues and no curfews, according to Mr Abbott.
It is located next to the Gladstone State Development Area, a 27,000ha space for port-related activities.
In response to a question from Senator Chisholm, Mr Abbott said the business case for Gladstone would not be affected if the Inland Rail was also linked to Brisbane.
The original route is proposed to run from Gowrie in Toowoomba, down the Toowoomba Range via a tunnel and series of viaducts, across the black soil farmlands of the Lockyer Valley, through the Teviot Range and finishes at Acacia Ridge.
The meeting discussed the flaws of the current route not linking to the Port of Brisbane, particularly urban congestion.
If the Gladstone route goes ahead, there are at least three options that could be considered.
The cheapest is to use the existing corridor from Toowoomba to Miles then to Wandoan, and construct the missing link to Banana.
There are also more expensive proposals to route the line from Goondiwindi directly to Miles, or from Millmerran to Kogan, west of Dalby - both bypassing Toowoomba.
Mr Burnett said for every $1.5 million that would go to the Port of Gladstone, there would be about 500,000 B-Triples that would not have to go through Sydney or Melbourne’s metropolitan areas.
The project is estimated to return $1.57 for every $1 cost.
Phoning in, One Nation senator Pauline Hanson asked if it could be used as a passenger line.
Mr Burnett said that was the first case he’d heard for passenger rail but he did not see an issue with that proposal.
During a later press conference, he said all levels of government needed to work together to make it happen.
“I’ve presented to the Senate Inquiry previously and we invited them to Gladstone to come and have a look at the Port of Gladstone and the region of Central Queensland and why the Inland Rail needs to come to Gladstone,” he said.
“At the moment we have trucks driving straight past he Port of Gladstone to unload at the Port of Brisbane, to then steam back past Gladstone on their way to Asia.
“Save yourselves some time and some money and connect to the Port of Gladstone, open up those other markets while they fight amongst themselves in southeast Queensland.”
Senator McDonald said she was really disappointed the Gladstone Ports Corporation didn’t come to the inquiry meeting.
“Incredibly disappointing that the port didn’t come, we were very keen to understand what the requirements were around future channel requirements, cost of ships and containers coming into the Gladstone port,” Senator McDonald said.
According to her, the inquiry should be finalised in the next couple of months.
LNP Member for Flynn said the project was about decentralisation and local people were ‘rapt’ about the proposal.
“The confidence that people of Central Queensland have in this project is really wonderful,” he said.
Banana Shire mayor Nev Ferrier spoke of the importance of the project for Mung bean and Soybean producers, as well as chickpea production in the Callide Valley.
“At the moment, Central Highlands and a lot of the Callide/Dawson Valley are going straight down to Dalby and Toowoomba and... then going onto the Port of Brisbane because they’re not putting it onto the Port of Gladstone,” Mr Ferrier said.
“Any containerisation is going to help Central Queensland big time.”
He attended an Inland Rail conference in Albury in May where they discussed the cost savings of getting crates from Melbourne to Toowoomba.
Mr Ferrier said by the time the issues were sorted in Brisbane, the rail line could already be built to Gladstone.
“It’s a once in a generation thing. If we don’t do that now, we’ll miss out forever,” Mr Ferrier told the Inquiry.
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