Election 2022: ALP review plan will delay Inland Rail, claims Barnaby Joyce

Barnaby Joyce says Labor’s plans to reassess the Inland Rail route would further delay construction of the $15bn freight line from Melbourne to Brisbane.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce says Labor’s proposed review of the Inland Rail project will cause delays. Picture: Alex Ellinghausen

Barnaby Joyce says Labor’s plans to reassess the Inland Rail route would further delay construction of the $15bn freightline from Melbourne to Brisbane.

The Deputy Prime Minister said it would also threaten plans to extend the rail line from Toowoomba to Gladstone, where the Coalition is locked in a battle with Labor to win the seat of Flynn.

The federal government has commissioned a $10m business case of the proposed Gladstone leg, which has been endorsed by both Labor and the Coalition.

It comes after Labor infrastructure spokeswoman Catherine King this week said the party had concerns about the escalating cost of the 1700km line and promised to speak to concerned communities along the route – particularly the sections between Toowoomba and the Port of Brisbane – to assess other options if Labor formed government after May 21.

Cost blowouts and route concerns were identified by a Senate inquiry last year.

Ms King has accused Mr Joyce of running a “scare campaign” and reaffirmed Labor’s support for the freight line. Mr Joyce, who was in the north Queensland town of Bowen on Thursday, said Ms King’s pledge to examine the project would lead to delays.

“One of the most disappointing announcements by the Labor Party, they’re moving against Inland Rail, they’re doing what they always do, going to inertia, going to reviews, putting up question marks,” Mr Joyce told central Queensland radio station 4RO.

“They’re not going to build it. I imagine they’re scared about new coal mines opening up or gosh knows what.”

Mr Joyce said his mission since being returned as Infrastructure Minister was to ensure construction of the project went ahead straight away. “There is no more ‘we might go here, we might go there’, it is ‘that’s the way we’re going, go, go, go,’” he said.

“They’re starting to actually roll it out, you drive along now and you can see them actually building the thing. We’ve got to get it to Toowoomba then we’ve got to get it down to Gladstone. Where the Labor Party is going to get it to is another heap of consultants and another heap of reviews.”

Ms King said Labor supported the project but had concerns about cost blowouts and ongoing uncertainty of the route. “It was the last Labor government – with Anthony Albanese as minister for infrastructure – that invested $900m to progress this project to the construction stage,” she said. “We also support the business case into extending the route to Gladstone.

“Under Barnaby Joyce’s management the project has blown out from $4.4bn to $9.3bn to $14.5bn, without any clarity being provided on the shape the actual line will take.”