Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for her question. There is no doubt at all that a high-speed rail line would transform regional Australia and of course also the transport network between our capital cities. As we look forward to the future, we need to examine the role that each mode of transport can play in our future transport needs, and that will be a major challenge.

As the honourable member will be aware, the phase 2 study of the inland rail project identified that the project was feasible but that it would have very substantial costs. Their estimate was about $114 billion, in 2013 numbers; and clearly that number is going to continue to go up as time goes by. They also suggested that an appropriate time frame in which to build this project would be between 2027 and 2065. It is a very big project and would require major effort. When this government came to office, I wrote to the states, following the phase 2 study, and asked them to engage in discussions in relation to the acquisition or reservation of the corridor.

Mr Albanese interjecting—

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