A visionary new highway, almost 3000km long, is set to open up the nation’s interior

A visionary new highway, almost 3000km long, is set to open up the nation’s interior.

One of Antony Gormley’s sculptures at Lake Ballard, near Menzies.

On the edge of Australia’s largest desert, an Indigenous-owned mining company is converting a gravel road into a highway that can take tourists into the heart of the West Australian outback in a hatchback. 

The Outback Way is an ambitious plan to seal the network of roads that stretch diagonally across Australia from Laverton in WA to Winton in Queensland. It will mean any vehicle can make it from Perth to Cairns without hitting dirt. When finished, the route dubbed “Australia’s longest shortcut” will be longer than Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles.

On the WA side of the Great Victoria Desert, about 1000km northeast of Perth, Indigenous-owned Carey Mining is working with an earthmoving company, the WA government’s Main Roads department and local Indigenous trainees to lay down bitumen on the gravel road from Laverton, a tiny town surrounded by mines and pastoral stations, to the Aboriginal community of Warburton. They have completed 52km and have 500km more to do. 

The approximately 500 Aboriginal residents of Warburton on the Ngatyanjarra lands already provide permits to visitors and make them welcome in a hotel of simple transportable cabins. But a long drive on a dirt road has been a deterrent for outsiders. It means relatively few have seen the astonishing Warburton Collection at the Tjulyuru Art Gallery. It is a unique cultural asset of 900 paintings and other works in glass and textiles. 

“This comes from our stories, our dreamtime stories,” says Elizabeth Holland on the Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku website. “We are happy for you people from all different places to look and think about the work we have done. You see, we made these things.” At the Warta shop next door, art and crafts are for sale.

The Terraces along the Leonora Loop Trail near Leonora

The five shires and two Aboriginal councils behind the Outback Way have raised $407m – 80 per cent from the Commonwealth and 20 per cent from the WA, Northern Territory and Queensland governments – and used it to seal 730km of the road between Laverton and Winton. There is 900km of gravel left to do. The councils collectively have enough money to keep sealing roads for about another 18 months. They think they can get another $500m from governments to finish the job by 2028.

The Outback Way is the passion of Laverton pastoralist Patrick Hill. He first presented the idea to a national meeting of local governments in 1997. He loves a full roadhouse breakfast and a long drive, and thinks people would be amazed by the far inland places of Australia if they could just get to them. Hill, chairman of the Outback Way Highway Development Council, is also certain about the economic benefits of a more connected central Australia. 

Hill says there are misconceptions about the outback that keep people away. For example, there is already more than 900km of sealed road between Perth and Laverton that makes for a great road trip. Holidaymakers leaving Perth for Laverton can overnight in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, the heart of WA’s goldmining sector and once a city bigger than the capital. 

Remains of gold rush buildings, found in Gwalia

From there, even those with a two-wheel drive can go north to the ghost town of Gwalia, where a 23-year-old Herbert Hoover was the mine manager for six months in 1898. In 1929, he became the 31st president of the United States. The house Hoover lived in at Gwalia has been turned into a bed and breakfast. Its stately dimensions are a fascinating contrast to the workers’ shacks.

Kalgoorlie is just two hours by car from the stark and stunning Lake Ballard. Visitors often book a day trip with a tour operator rather than drive themselves, because part of the road is unsealed. Lake Ballard is described as Australia’s largest outdoor gallery. It is a salt lake dotted with metal sculptures by Turner Prize-winning artist Antony Gormley.

Hill says he understands that for many people, a holiday means the beach. But he hopes the Outback Way can help turn Australians’ gaze to the vast majesty of what lies back from the coast.

“It is desert out here but it’s not like the Sahara – it is spinifex, sandhills, scrub,” he says. “The landscape changes the further out you go, and it is beautiful to see that.”

Outback travel tips

• High clearance/off-road vans, all-wheel-drive vehicles or 4WD are recommended
• Daytime driving is safer – plan to be at your destination an hour before sunset
• Never enter flooded roads
• Permits are required to travel between Kata Tjuta and the NT border, and between the NT border and Laverton (for more information see the website)
• Mobile coverage exists in towns at Winton, Boulia, Alice Springs, Yulara, Warburton, Laverton – take satellite phone and UHF

-

For more advice and to buy the HEMA Guide Book go to www.outbackway.org.au