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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-06-18 Daily Xml
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Rail Closures

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:27): Today, I rise to talk about, sadly, the impending closure of the commercial rail lines in South Australia but, in particular, the two last rail lines in the electorate of Chaffey. I have met with Genesee & Wyoming and they have indicated to me that the two lines from Tookyerta (which is at Loxton) down to Tailem Bend and the rail line from Pinnaroo to Tailem Bend will close before the end of the year.

This is a sad indictment of South Australia because I know that over the last 50 years South Australia was the pride of rail on the national stage yet, today, we look at the impending closure of these two commercial lines, and there is talk that others in the state could also be closed. These two lines are, of course, important commercial agricultural rail lines, and this will impact significantly on not only the road but also the viability of bulk freight from the receival depot to Tailem Bend and, inevitably, either Roseworthy or Inner Harbor.

What I am told is that commercial rail is hit with the carbon tax: rail is subject to carbon tax but the carbon tax rebate is giving road transport an advantage. Again, that will see more and more freight being put on the roads, and it is going to be put on two particular highways that are of real concern: the Karoonda Highway, which is a road essentially from Loxton to Tailem Bend or Murray Bridge; and also the Pinnaroo to Tailem Bend highway. They are going to be severely impacted.

On the Karoonda Highway, I make note that it was just over 12 months ago that the Premier and the now minister for mining were down at the Mindarie site for the re-opening of that mine, and I commend Murray Zircon for the great work that they are doing down at Mindarie with their zircon mining and the way that they are behaving. The way that they are rehabilitating the land is second to none.

However, with the token 20-kilometre upgrade of the Karoonda Highway from Mindarie 20 kilometres down the road, I think both the minister and the Premier must have forgotten that the highway goes further than 20 kilometres, and the product that comes out of that mine goes further than that 20 kilometres; it does go all the way to the port. The Karoonda Highway was built over 50 years ago, and it was built for a Bedford truck. It was built for an eight-tonne truck.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hang on, you are reflecting on the Chair!

Mr WHETSTONE: That road was a standard light gauge road, as was the rail back in the day that it was built, but today it is taking passage of 63.5 tonne B-double trucks, and they are ever increasing. With the good work of the Mallee farmers, they are increasing their yields and their production out of that country, and it is putting great pressure on the roads. There is increasing pressure on the Pinnaroo highway as well with broadacre horticulture and our livestock industry growing.

Particularly with the grain industry in the Mallee, with the introduction of no-till or minimal till, we are seeing more consistent crops, which means we are seeing more grain being produced. We are seeing bigger machinery on-farm and bigger machinery on-road, and it is putting more and more pressure on those roads. Again, this is going to add to the already existing $400 million backlog of road maintenance.

What I would like to say is that I looked at Labor's 30-year transport and infrastructure plan and there was no mention of commercial rail to improve, support and take off the increased pressure with more commodities going on our roads. There was no mention in that 30-year plan at all—none. Again, this government's priority is all about building superways and freeways all around Adelaide to keep their agenda on the table; it is not about supporting the infrastructure that this great state needs. Sadly, commercial rail is failing under this Labor government.

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