Deputy agrees to visit
McCormack says he will talk to floodplain farmers
DEPUTY Prime Minister Michael McCormack has said he intends to meet with landholders along the Inland Rail route’s controversial crossing of the Condamine Floodplain.
Speaking to The Chronicle, Mr McCormack said the Federal Government wanted “to make sure that people feel as though they’re being listened to”.
Property owners along the Inland Rail route between Millmerran and Brookstead have long feared the building of the line would create an inland dam, worsening already severe flooding events along the 12.5km wide floodplain.
When asked whether he would visit landholders on the floodplain, Mr McCormack said: “Yeah, I intend to do that.”
He said he did not have a timeframe for making that visit.
“I’ve looked at the diary about three weeks ahead and it’s absolutely jam-packed but no, we’ll get out there and John (McVeigh’s) invited me, as have other local members.”
A draft engineering solution for the Inland Rail’s crossing of the Condamine Floodplain was fast-tracked late last year, after it was revealed in a Senate Estimates inquiry that no detailed design work had been done on the line’s crossing of the 12.5km floodplain, exposing it to a potential cost blowout.
The work was prioritised by
‘‘ WE’LL GET OUT THERE AND JOHN (MCVEIGH’S) INVITED ME, AS HAVE OTHER LOCAL MEMBERS.”
MICHAEL MCCORMACK
former Infrastructure Minister Darren Chester.
Australian Rail Track Corporation Inland Rail Program CEO Richard Wankmuller was quizzed on the project’s crossing of the Condamine Floodplain during his visit to Toowoomba on Thursday.
“We don’t know exactly what the engineering solution will be. There will be some viaducts, there will be some bridges, there might be some places where the existing foundations will work. But that’s the phase we’re in is trying to figure our exactly what those engineering solutions will look like,” he said.
When asked how close ARTC was to finishing the work on the Condamine Floodplain, Mr Wankmuller said it was “quite a long ways away, really”.
“About 18 months from now we’ll have a pretty good solution of what the engineered solution looks like. In the meantime we engaged with the community to talk about the impact of what the will be,” he said.
Mr Wankmuller was then asked about ARTC’s fast-tracking the draft engineering solution for the crossing of the Condamine Floodplain.
“I’m not aware of the word fast-tracking. We’re trying to keep moving, sure,” he replied, prompting Groom MP Dr John McVeigh to step in.
“I can address that - and a good question because you’re absolutely right because the decision made prior to Richard taking on his role as CEO of Inland Rail was to prioritise that engineering work, that early engineering work across the Condamine Floodplain,” Dr McVeigh said.
Mr McCormack admitted that Mr Chester had committed to having the draft engineering solution for crossing the floodplain available by mid-2018, but that the release of the work had been pushed back to “make sure we get this right”.