Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This motion gives me the opportunity to set the record straight on Inland Rail and explain the reasoning behind the Albanese government's decision to cease construction on the project north of Parkes. The reality is Inland Rail became a case study in waste and mismanagement. It was bungled by the former coalition government from start to finish. One of the chief proponents of Inland Rail and widely called the father of Inland Rail, Everald Compton, said recently this was 'probably the worst managed infrastructure project in the history of Australia'. He acknowledged it was 'grossly mismanaged from the start politically and financially' and described it as a 'disgraceful exhibition of waste of money'.

Now here's a quick history lesson for the member for Parkes. In 2013, the former Labor government provisioned $1 billion for the planning for the Inland Rail, but it was never done after we lost government in 2013. Then in 2017, the coalition government announced a $9.3 billion plan funded by debt to build the Inland Rail without any planning or any idea about how it was going to get into the Port of Melbourne or into the Port of Brisbane. It was going to go to Acacia Ridge, for heaven's sakes, many kilometres from the Port of Brisbane. They had no idea about noise abatement and no idea about the impact on local communities. Under the former coalition government, by 2020, the cost estimate had risen to $16.4 billion—again, funded from debt.

Of course, when Labor came to office in 2022, the Australian Rail Track Corporation, or ARTC, told the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government that the project would need substantially more funding to finish it, but couldn't say how much. So the Albanese government commissioned respected infrastructure expert Dr Kerry Schott to review the project and, based on the ARTC's own figures, she found it was going to cost an additional $31.4 billion but couldn't be sure because ARTC started construction without having done the proper planning and cost assurance for where it would start and finish, or where it would stop on the way, or what it would actually carry.

So then we got ARTC and Inland Rail, having accepted all of Dr Schott's recommendations, to have another look at it. They said very clearly that the cost had blown out by $45 billion. We have an independent actuarial assurance again, which confirmed the ARTC estimate of a $45 billion cost blow-out. Frankly, the former coalition government has a lot to answer for—especially the member for New England when he was the Leader of the Nationals and Deputy Prime Minister. Even that former National Party leader, the member for Maranoa, has admitted this. That's why we made the sensible decision to get Inland Rail to Parkes by the end of 2027 as well as preserve the corridor north and protect sites for future intermodal terminals in Queensland. I can assure you of this: it wasn't a decision the government took lightly. We're not opposed to the concept of Inland Rail, freight rail or, indeed, regional development in general. It is just the opposite of what the coalition claims. The reality is that Inland Rail in its current form was simply unsustainable. There are more efficient and effective ways to support national freight tasks across regional Australia.

I can tell you that this is a very good outcome for my local community. Many residents in Blair and surrounding areas had serious concerns about the impact of Inland Rail. I heard 'high impact, low value' numerous times. These residents don't want a 1.8-kilometre long double-stacked freight train going every hour through their properties or near their properties on embankments without noise abatement, and that's precisely what they would have got. I met landholders along the proposed routes, including the Ivorys Rock convention and events centre, which brings millions of dollars into Ipswich at Peak Crossing, who raised concerns about the impact of noise and vibration from freight trains. The route was to go 500 metres from the centre. There were also concerns about the impact on local environment and wildlife, particularly around the Purga-Peak Crossing area, where the government has funded koala conservation projects. The school at Grandchester in rural Ipswich was impacted, and the population of all the township in the rural community of Rosewood would have been impacted.

Based on feedback from industry, we've committed a further $1.75 billion to improve productivity, resilience and the reliability of Australia's freight rail network alongside a $55 million incentive to get more freight off our roads and onto rail and sea. It's very interesting to hear National Party members being concerned about emissions, by the way, for the first time I've heard in nearly 20 years.

This means we can now get Inland Rail to Parkes and finally get a return on our investment. We've committed $2.8 billion in our network investment program, and it's really critical that we do it.

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