Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises that:

(a) the Strzelecki Track is a vital freight and tourist route connecting Adelaide to the Moomba Gas fields in South Australia's far north-east and South East Queensland;

(b) the route is used extensively by pastoralists, mining vehicles and tourists and is no longer fit for purpose due to pot holes, bulldust and closures from flooding;

(c) it can take more than 12 hours for heavy transport to negotiate 338 kilometres from Lyndhurst to Moomba;

(d) the Track is used by many tourists heading into the heart of Australia and visiting some of the wonders of outback South Australia and Queensland and with a proper standard road there is great potential to grow this industry; and

(e) the Track is also used by heavy transport which supports the exploitation of the Moomba Gas Fields and trucks carrying supplies to, and cattle from, properties and they are totally reliant on this route;

(2) notes that:

(a) the Track cuts through remote and inhospitable country where emergency services are reliant on the Royal Flying Doctor Service;

(b) more than 30 road trains navigate the Track each day carrying vital equipment for the gas industry and thousands of dollars of damage is done to each of these trucks on a daily basis; and

(c) rain can close the road for up to six weeks as it did in 2010 when large sections were washed away or left underwater and on average shuts the road for 45 days a year; and

(3) calls on the state and federal governments to work together in an urgent manner to bring about the sealing of this vital route.

To most people, the Strzelecki Track is just another of the names intertwined with the legends of the discovery and utilisation of the Australian outback. The Birdsville and Oodnadatta tracks and the Old Ghan Railway have become for adventurous tourists part of the list of roads that need to be conquered in their quest to discover the real Australia. And that is a good thing. However, for most Australians they are just names of some forgotten stories of the outback. And while they all have their important economic role to play, it is the Strzelecki Track, affectionately known as the Strez, which provides the supply lines to one of South Australia's, if not Australia's, greatest assets in the Cooper Basin. It is estimated that over the last 40 years around 50 per cent of recoverable free-flowing natural gas has been extracted from the basin. However, it is advances in the extraction of tight gas that have led us to believe that we may have only just scratched the surface and that this resource will provide a very important source of gas for Australia in a carbon constrained world well into the next century.

The Strzelecki Track is 472 kilometres of road between Lyndhurst, at the northern end of the bitumen road network of north-eastern South Australia, to Innamincka, which is another 26 kilometres to the Queensland border. Of this, 45 kilometres is already sealed—in six strips to allow for overtaking. The problem is not only that the Strez is unsealed; on average, it is closed for 45 days a year. In fact, in 2010 it was closed for six weeks. And much of the rest of the time it is simply as rough as guts. It is a 'truck wrecker' adding millions of dollars to the cost of gas production in the basin. While these conditions attract some of the more adventurous tourists, for many others they are simply a barrier to be avoided. Around 30 heavy vehicles a day do the 360 kilometre trip from Lyndhurst to Moomba. These are not town delivery trucks; they are road trains, with delivery loads between 60 and 80 tonnes and up to a dozen axles. However, almost unbelievably, that trip from Lyndhurst to Moomba can take about 14 hours. I think that is an average speed of about 35 kilometres an hour. The trip inflicts a huge toll on the truck in terms of tyres and maintenance. Wrecked suspensions, high wear of all moving parts and significant damage to fragile equipment frequently occurs. It is simply no way to supply a modern industry, and certainly not one that we will continue to rely on so heavily.

In recent years the Queensland government has pushed its bitumen roads further west to the South Australian border, and our road users—whether they be heavy transporters in either the resources or the livestock industries, tourists, junior explorers or locals—find they can drive to the South Australian border on a 21st century road, only to discover that it is only an invisible border between states isolating them from a 19th century solution, the rough as guts dirt track. Simply put: one minute they are on a brand new 21st century bitumen road, and, depending on how recently maintenance grading has occurred, then they are on a 19th century dirt road of very ordinary value.

This presents a new variable to road users. Adelaide to Moomba is 954 kilometres, with 358 kilometres of that being unsealed road. Moomba to Brisbane is 1,501 kilometres, with just 143 kilometres of unsealed road. Increasingly, the heavy transport industry is using the long option. It is 50 per cent further with an extra 500 kilometres, or 1,000 kilometres for a round trip. Once again, this is a very strong indication of the condition of the road. Higher fuel costs, longer hours, more drivers but much lower maintenance costs. It is a very sobering indication of the condition of the road, and the implications for South Australia are clear: the benefits of our assets are being lost to the Brisbane supply line. For this reason alone, it is vitally important for South Australia's future that the track be sealed. Of course, this presents a higher cost option to all those who use it.

But there is much more: increasingly there is every reason to be more enthusiastic about the Australian tourism industry. We are seen as a safe, secure, First World option with incredible tourism assets. This works in our favour for not only international tourists but also our domestic travellers as well, especially those who are repeat customers. An increasing number are looking to explore the unparalleled experience of the Aussie outback. Yes, as I have said earlier, some are looking for the ultimate test of man and machine, but most are not. Most want to see the wonders of the outback and not be left on the side of the road with a broken axle or worse. The wonders of the outback as accessed from the Strzelecki Track are many and magnificent. Cooper Creek; the outback's striking wet lands of the Coongie Lakes; Lake Eyre; the base of the Birdsville and Oodnadatta Tracks; the pathway of the old Ghan; Coober Pedy, the opal capital of the world; and the magnificent Flinders Ranges are all accessed from the Strzelecki Track. The completion of a good road to the Southern Ocean through the South Australian outback would open up huge opportunities in the tourism sector.

In all of this, we should not forget the industry which opened up the outback in the first place: livestock. For livestock producers, shorter and faster routes are far better in getting cattle to market. For those unfamiliar with the livestock industry, the cattle have to be spelled after a long period on a truck. Rough roads are uncomfortable for livestock. These are all added costs and added time. Not only for South Australian producers but also for many properties in south-east Queensland, markets and abattoirs in the south make more sense and should provide bigger and better profits, but it all hinges around having a decent road. We cannot expect these vitally important industries of our outback to thrive if we are not prepared to reinvest in them and provide fit tools for service—in this case, a decent road.

I met recently with Premier Jay Weatherill on this issue, and he assures me the state government is interested. The Strez is, of course, a state road and, as such, any possible project will require them to put their shoulder to the wheel. I stand ready to petition ministers for direct support of the program to seal the Strzelecki Track when the state government produce a request to the federal government.

I have also had a number of meetings with Mark Harrington from the Strzelecki Highway company, which has put in to the state government an unsolicited bid involving a portion of private funding. It is an interesting concept and given the pressing need for this project to be brought on as quickly as possible I am very hopeful that the state government will respond to his proposal as soon as possible.

From my part, I continue to lobby federal ministers. I have a standing invitation, I must say, with the transport minister to travel the Strzelecki Track with me! When I pressed him the other day for a date—and I was thinking mid to late December, before it gets too hot—he had his office staff looked at his diary and he is thinking maybe April, which is a concern, because I think seeing is believing for so many people. They do not really get their head around, firstly, what the Cooper Basin means—around the value of the tourism assets that are in the outback of Australia and in this particular case the outback of South Australia—and then actually understand what a road like the Strzelecki can be like and what a barrier it is to tourism and other operators. Incidentally, I have sat in the Lyndhurst Hotel talking to a number of truckies who have come down the Strz and most of them are pretty appalled at the damage to their trucks. I have to report, sadly, that one truckie said to me, 'Whatever you do don't bituminise the road.' I asked him why and he said, 'If you bituminise the road the big fellers will be here and little blokes like me will get squeezed out.' I said, 'I understand what you are saying, but for the benefit of South Australia and the benefit of Australia, so that these industries can actually contribute in the way that they should to our economy, I cannot agree with you. I think the track needs bituminising, and the sooner the better.'

Nicolle Flint (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion. I would like to congratulate my South Australian colleague the member for Grey for moving this motion today. He is a very hardworking and passionate local member and also a South Australian. I note also that the member for Barker is here in the chamber with us. All of us understand how important it is to get the South Australian economy back on track to look after our rural and regional areas. This project is very unique, because it has a significant strategic value to the South Australian economy and to the tourism industry, which is critical.

Now more than ever I think we need to be building productive infrastructure in South Australia so that we can start to reverse the very dire economic trends that our state has been suffering from. This project stands as one that will greatly improve road freight transport between South Australia and Queensland, unlocking significant potential to further develop job-creating industries in South Australia. A sealed Strzelecki Track will mean that thousands of head of cattle can she be shipped directly to South Australian abattoirs, creating growth in the food-processing industry. The member for Barker, of course, has in his electorate, in Thomas Foods, one of our most significant abattoirs and processors. Also, the ability for industry to use an all-weather road to and from the Cooper Basin will, of course, improve access to service industries for the oil and gas operations in Moomba and also over the border in Queensland.

Tourism is another industry that will benefit from a road that is sealed. Sealing the 472-kilometre stretch of road will provide a gateway from the Sunshine State to some of the nation's renowned salt lakes and the Flinders Ranges. A sealed track will also make it easier and, importantly, much safer for tourists to traverse remote Australia. We Australians know that you have to be really careful when you are travelling in the outback and we also know that sometimes tourists do not have the expertise to know how carefully you need to treat the outback.

As you can see, this is about much more than construction jobs. It is about a long-term, forward-thinking infrastructure project that will help grow our state's economy in the decades to come. With South Australia's unemployment rate, at 6.4 per cent, unfortunately still being well above the national average, a focus on job-creating infrastructure from the state Labor government cannot come quickly enough. And something that is outside of the CBD for once would also be nice! As someone who represents suburban South Australia and grew up in rural and regional South Australia, I think there is far too much emphasis from this state Labor government on the city centre. It is as if the rest of us do not exist, and quite frankly we have had enough of it. Also, of course, fixing up or bitumising the Strzelecki Track is about improving productivity and safety for those who use the road.

It is quite remarkable that the track is closed for about 45 days a year. Being a dirt road, it does not take much to wash it out and these closures cost the South Australian economy millions of dollars in lost revenue and compound the already-long travel times on the track as well. So this is very much a productivity issue. Sealing the road will considerably reduce time spent travelling for our hardworking truckies. With maximum speeds on the track of only 35 kilometres an hour for road freight it takes over 14 hours to complete. This is a serious productivity issue.

A sealed Strzelecki Track should be travelled in under six hours, I think—is that right, member for Grey?

Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes.

Nicolle Flint (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Absolutely. This will, of course, increase productivity and save people money, and we would also of course anticipate that it would stop the track being closed down for so many days in the year—reducing it from 45 days down to 20 or so, which would be a very good outcome. A special consideration is the estimated cost of $500,000 for every day that the road is closed. That is a significant financial impost. Sealing the track will save over $12 million a year.

This, of course, is also a safety issue. For our truck drivers, for our tourists and for people providing services to the mining industry it is really very important. I think that the overall savings to business and government in the operation and maintenance costs are irrefutable.

Once again, I thank the member for Grey for raising this and call on the state Labor government to take note of the prosperity that an upgraded Strzelecki Track will bring to the state of South Australia. Thank you.

Debate adjourned.