Jamie Chaffey (Parkes, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that Inland Rail was conceived as a nation building freight rail project connecting Melbourne and Brisbane through regional Australia;

(2) recognises that Inland Rail was designed to:

(a) reduce freight transit times between Melbourne and Brisbane from around 33 hours to under 24 hours;

(b) remove up to 200,000 truck movements from Australian roads annually;

(c) improve national fuel security by shifting freight from road to rail;

(d) reduce freight costs for Australian producers and consumers; and

(e) support jobs, investment and economic growth across regional Australia;

(3) further notes official modelling shows Inland Rail could:

(a) reduce freight transport costs by approximately $213 million annually; and

(b) significantly increase rail freight capacity between Melbourne and Brisbane;

(4) condemns the Government for:

(a) cutting and delaying Inland Rail funding;

(b) abandoning the original vision of a completed Melbourne to Brisbane Inland Rail corridor; and

(c) failing regional communities, freight operators, farmers and exporters who were promised a completed national freight corridor; and

(5) calls on the Government to:

(a) commit to completing the full Inland Rail corridor connecting Melbourne to Brisbane;

(b) restore certainty around project delivery and funding; and

(c) recognise Inland Rail as a critical national productivity, fuel security and regional development project.

For 10 years, families, businesses, organisations and councils have planned their lives and their futures around a project called the Inland Rail. I'll quote from the Inland Rail website. It says:

Inland Rail will enhance our national freight network and supply chain capabilities, connecting existing freight routes through rail, roads and ports, and supporting Australia's growth.

The project was first proposed in 1998 as a nation-building initiative to take trucks off our roads and to build our freight capacity and to help the progress of regional towns along the route.

About 10 years ago, the project became a certainty. Farms have been bought, businesses have been formed, and industrial parks have been planned and created. Dreams have been built around the Inland Rail. Instead, the 960-kilometre stretch from Parkes to Brisbane has now been axed, and thousands of people and businesses have been left in limbo. This, the Labor government tells us, is an economic decision. But, in the scramble to find money, this Labor government is not only further limiting the sovereignty of our nation; it is devastating livelihoods, slashing employment, destroying generational businesses and sticking the knife in the backs of regional communities. This is not economics; this is metro-centric selfishness.

Nick McClure, from a Narrabri based business called Specialised Civil Services, tells me the announcement came as a massive shock to his community of Narrabri. This business went from 85 full-time employees plus subcontractors to just 40 full-time staff after the announcement. Specialised Civil Services has invested more than $25 million in a quarry business, primarily to service the Inland Rail project. This is just one town. Jobs have been lost, millions of dollars have been lost, and there has been not a word of support from this federal Albanese Labor government. Nick McClure has a message for this government. He said:

I would like the Federal Government to explain why regional communities don't get any attention. We are the backbone of this country. This is where the money comes from—not the city—we are the exporters, we do the farming and we have the resources. It is frustrating.

No warning, no consultation and no consideration—the economic landscape has gone from one of promise and prosperity to uncertainty. I've spoken to mayors, business owners, families and farmers. They are bewildered and they are angry. The Mayor of Parkes, Neil Westcott, says the announcement was like having his arm cut off. Dubbo mayor Josh Black says the decision shows the raw deal regional Australians get. Narrabri mayor Daryl Tieman said, 'It is a wasted opportunity to create a nation-building project.' These councils and many more have worked with the federal government for decades to make this project a reality. Narromine Shire Council has supported the development of a materials distribution centre and a major industrial estate in Moree. The Moree special activation precinct, a major logistics and agribusiness hub specifically for the Inland Rail project, is now in doubt.

On 2 March this year, the Inland Rail announced that every New South Wales section of the Inland Rail had been approved. Now years of funding, years of planning, years of families and businesses going through the extended process of acquisitions, are wasted. People like the Roberts family in Narromine, who had been advised that their land would be acquired, now are left without the ability to make any plans for their future. Years of new precincts, new businesses, new jobs and years of hope—all wasted.

There is not only the economic cost but there is a human cost as well. With this announcement, 200,000 trucks will stay on the road annually, transit times will not be cut, freight costs will remain high, emissions will not be reduced, and—last and apparently least in the eyes of this government—jobs, investment and economic growth will suffer in regional Australia.

But what loss is this when a Labor government can rip money out of regions and give it to Melbourne, with another $3.8 billion for the Suburban Rail Loop. (Time expired)

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