Let’s link our steel assets
BETWEEN the years 1863 and 1869 the US built its first transcontinental railroad that was to unite the eastern and western halves of the country.
This railroad dramatically changed the nation, and today, it is considered one of the greatest American technological feats of the 19th century.
In a time when many Australians, and indeed people of other nations, fear the economic dominance of China, what is not understood is that, like the US, Australia has the potential to make a dramatic change for its people as well, by building a transcontinental railway; albeit industry-specific.
With this rail line, Australia will have the capacity to dominate the steelmaking industry — yes, we have an industry, right at our feet that can be more competitive than China!
Australia dominates the seaborne steelmaking market, producing 70 per cent of the raw materials required to create steel. Without this, we would be a Third World nation. We have this, right in our back yard, yet we have not fully embraced its potential. There is scope for so much more, and, perhaps, if fully supported, it could be our saviour.
Project Iron Boomerang is a proposed “transcontinental multi-user rail infrastructure corridor and steel manufacturing complex that will revolutionise global steel manufacturing”. This is precisely the kind of nation-building project Australia and the North need right now.
With partners such as Glencore, Ranbury, QANTM, CIMIC and Engenium supporting the PIB, I see no reason for why this can’t get off the ground. In 2005, the Beattie government announced the PIB was a “project of state significance”. It underwent a seven-year study to determine its viability and came out on top, yet, here we are 15 years down the track, no PIB, but instead, millions of Australians and many of its elected leaders crying out that we must bring manufacturing back.
Manufacturing in Australia peaked in the 1960s at 25 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product and has since dropped significantly. Currently Australian manufacturing contributes 6.05 per cent of the GDP, exports $96.1bn of goods and employs 856,000 people. This has fallen since 1996 when it contributed to 14 per cent of the GDP and employed more than a million people.
PIB’S vision is to build a rail line that links “Australia’s two great ore bodies for steelmaking, iron ore from the west coast and metallurgical coal from the east coast. The transcontinental railway will be dedicated to carrying resources efficiently from one side of the country to the other between the first stage iron and steel precincts.” The goal is to produce steel on both sides of the country and then export the steel to the tune of $18bn a year.
As a nation it is imperative for us to ensure industry is highly integrated, collaborative and provides creative solutions to contributing to global supply chains. PIB is exactly this. I will never pretend to be an expert in this industry, but, I have been a keen observer for long enough now to start asking questions. If we want change, we must make change, and we must dream “big”. We must find solutions to growing our manufacturing industries, so why not embrace and evolve a market we already dominate? If our elected politicians are looking for solutions, PIB is one that needs serious consideration.
PIB is being presented this week to the Joint Standing Committee for Trade and Investment Growth. On this committee are nine Australian politicians: George Christensen and chair of the committee, Ged Kearney, Katie Allen, Tim Ayres, Daniel
Mulino, Rowan Ramsay, Gerard Rennick, Marielle Smith and David Van.
I wish the project leaders well with their presentation, and hope the Australian government provides the support that is needed.
Project Iron Boomerang definitely needs strong federal government and strong state governments with both ambition and a belief in the future of Australia. With the state election on the horizon, it becomes even more imperative that we vote for representatives and their corresponding political parties who hold such principles and have vision.
NANETTE RADECK, Alice River.