Mark Coulton (Parkes, Deputy-Speaker, Minister for Regional Health, Regional Communications and Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd just like to update the House on the progress of the Inland Rail. There would be no one in this place that wouldn't know about the Inland Rail—that corridor of commerce that will connect Melbourne and Brisbane, transporting freight efficiently in less than a 24-hour time period. Just 100 days ago, construction started in the section between North Star and Narrabri, largely south of Moree. In the last 100 days, the Trans4m Rail team up there have stripped 45 kilometres of track, they've installed 418 culverts, they've removed 7,295 sleepers and 124 kilometres of old rail, and they've demolished five bridges. They are absolutely going flat out up there with the idea of getting half the section from Moree to Narrabri done down to a place called Bellata and opening that up so that the grain harvest from Moree can be transported to the port and construction can move north of Moree towards North Star.

I just want to point out that the Inland Rail is not a train; it is a spine from which other things will grow. A great example of that, as the former minister sitting here with me knows, was the $44 million that he secured to connect Inland Rail to the Hunter line at Narrabri so that those higher axle weights and longer capacity trains carting grain to the Port of Newcastle could connect to the Inland Rail. Another example is the program that's looking at the upgrade of the New South Wales state line to Coonamble and back to Gilgandra and also the recently discussed possibility—once it's completed—of a connection through to the Port of Gladstone. That's the idea. Not only will there be a connection between the two cities but, for the first time in the history of our country, every capital city will be connected by a standard-gauge railway.

Narrabri is developing a port, in conjunction with the local gas supply there, and setting up industries such as fertiliser production and the possible recycling of plastics and other things. Moree, in conjunction with the New South Wales government, has their Special Activation Precinct looking at the possibilities there. I was at Narromine on Friday, where a thousand hectares have been secured by Inland Rail for a construction zone, working with the council at Narrabri, so that they can progress with what will ultimately be an intermodal site there.

It is important to remember that the business case on this line is built on an intermodal train travelling between capital cities in less than 24 hours. Only about 15 to 20 per cent of all freight will actually go to port. It is designed to compete with those trucks that are coming up and down the Newell Highway now at an interval of about every 70 seconds. That's the business case that will pay the bills. The producers right along the line, including the large section in my electorate, will get the benefits of cheaper freight, and the communities will get the opportunity to establish businesses to connect to every capital city in the country. I think it's the most exciting project this country has seen in over 100 years. Certainly, it's fantastic to see local contractors and people from my home town of Warialda using trucks to cart gravel and aggregate, Narrabri contractors, who make up a large proportion of the workforce now, and local Indigenous people—Gamilaraay people—working on that. It's a magnificent project.

In the last few seconds, I'd just like to pay tribute to the former CEO, Richard Wankmuller. He finished up on Friday; that was his last day. He took this project basically from a concept and got it to a point where we are seeing major construction and have the confidence that this rail will be concluded. I'd just like to thank Richard for his commitment to the project and the leadership he has shown, and I wish him all the best for his future endeavours.

House adjourned at 17:00