Farmers Seek Answers After Labor Scales Back Inland Rail Project

The New South Wales (NSW) Farmers Federation is calling on the federal government to provide answers amid news the Inland Rail project—a freight route to provide connection from Brisbane to Melbourne—will have most of its track scrapped.

The planned 1,700 kilometre long freight rail line would have cut through regional parts of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, providing a dedicated freight highway for producers to move commodities like grain, livestock and manufactured goods alongside imports and exports.

It will now run from Beveridge in Victoria to Parkes in NSW, covering around 800 kilometres.

First advanced under the former Coalition government in 2014, the Inland Rail project was intended to speed up freight movements, shift cargo from road to rail, and reduce transport costs, with projected costs initially estimated at $4.7 billion before rising to $14.3 billion in later inquiries.

But Infrastructure Minister Catherine King, who previously described the project as “significant” and something the government was “proud” to deliver, now says estimates put the cost above $45 billion.

King cited an independent review by former managing director and CEO of Sydney Water, Kerry Schott, in 2023 which claimed there would be minimal certainty around the actual cost due to delays and “immature preliminary designs.”

“This is more than three times the current budget allocation and this work also confirmed that the project cannot be delivered until at least 2036,” she said.

“The 2023 independent review found major deficiencies in the governance and delivery of Inland Rail by the Liberals and Nationals. We are taking sensible decisions to realign the future of Inland Rail and build a safe, efficient and reliable network for the future.”

Farmers Want Answers

Following the announcement, NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin says growers want answers from the Albanese government.

“NSW Farmers policy supported Inland Rail because moving freight more efficiently matters to farm businesses, regional communities, and the prosperity of the nation,” he said in a statement.

“But governments can’t ask rural and regional communities to carry the burden of disruptive construction, then just change direction without accountability.

“If Inland Rail is being ‘refocused’, then fairness for landholders, clarity for affected businesses, and genuine freight capacity upgrades must be the non-negotiables.”

Martin said it appeared the government was not aware that parts of the track had already been built as far as Narromine—about 100km north of Parkes—while a roughly 300km section between Narromine and Narrabri remains unbuilt, leaving other sections further north either upgraded or incomplete.

Meanwhile, National Farmers Federation (NFF) President Hamish McIntyre told The Epoch Times that the government’s decision abandoned one of the nation’s largest infrastructure projects that would have eased the financial burden on producers.

“There could not be a worse time to pull back investment on our supply chains,” he said.

“This project was designed to enhance our national freight network, strengthen our supply chain, ease the load on our highways, and much more.

“It should’ve become an important piece of our nation’s food security plan.”

Minister King has appointed a board to oversee the “refocused direction” of the truncated Inland Rail project.

She also said a $1.75 billion package would be included in the upcoming federal budget to support rail freight.