Demand for action on
Basics neglected: Hawks
KATTER’S Australian Party candidate Clynton Hawks is concerned the Coalition government is chasing the “latest shiny thing” in hydrogen and neglecting important basics in road and rail.
Mr Hawks, who works in the transport industry, said the Townsville Eastern Access Corridor was a good example of what happens when political cycles dictate infrastructure planning and development.
TEARC will connect the North Coast Line to the Port of Townsville, which was originally planned to be jointly funded by the state and federal governments.
Labelling the project as the golden child of previous elections, the Katter’s Australian Party says the project had all but disappeared from the limelight despite it being part of Townsville Enterprise’s wishlist.
Last year the Queensland government revealed it was still planning for TEARC despite a 2018 business case finding the project was not viable yet.
The revelation came as the state had begun to buy land to build the project as part of the planning groundwork.
Funding is allocated in the Transport and Main Roads Investment program 2021-22 to 2024-25 to help buy up lots for the project.
Mr Hawks said the major parties were too busy focusing on hydrogen, which he labelled the “latest shiny thing”.
“Hydrogen is very ‘now’ but you’ve got to think back a decade to recall it was biofuels that everyone was making promises about,” Mr Hawks said.
“Today, the only party keeping biofuels alive in political discussions is the KAP.” The Herbert candidate said road, rail and ports were never “politically attractive” but represented connectivity infrastructure that was key to unlocking the minerals resources potential in the North West Minerals Province.
“You have to get cheap electricity there, that’s Copperstring 2.0. And you need to be able to get the minerals out once they’re extracted. That’s the transport network,” Mr Hawks said.
“The rail network in north, far north and central Queensland has been ignored by the two major parties, but if successful at the upcoming federal election I will seek a reversal to that mindset and get our rail back on track.
“The virtue of TEARC is that it gets freight trains out of the city and moves them to the port access road where they need to be out of sight and out of mind.”
Mr Hawks said allowing 1.5km long trains to run straight into the port without having to break up at the Stuart switch yarns would be a time saver and productivity boost, reducing the end-cost to haulers and the consumer.
“The new line would mean longer trains can get into the Port of Townsville, provide growing capacity for the tonnage demand on the line all the way out to Mount Isa,” he said.
“Everyone I speak to talks about getting more freight going on rail and in some cases it’s possible.
“It makes sense to invest in the network to bring even more product from the North West Minerals Province through to the Port of Townsville.”
Townsville Enterprise CEO Claudia Brumme-smith had previously told the Bulletin it was important not to consider TEARC in isolation.
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