Newsroom

June 21, 2024

A flashy announcement of a simple study into the previously panned TEARC is nothing but a baseless announcement - the reality still bites that fewer and fewer companies want to use the Mount Isa line in the first place, Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) Leader and Member for Traeger, Robbie Katter has said.

“The ignorance, of the Resources Minister to announce a $2 Million ‘study’ into TEARC, at a roundtable called on short notice to discuss the issues on the Mount Isa rail line is disappointing,” he said.

“Those in the room were there to offer real observations and talk about incentivising use of the 50% spare capacity on the Mount Isa Line, yet the Minister announced a tokenistic money dump to yet more consultants for a report that Labor will unlikely get a chance to read, let alone action,” the member for Traeger said.

On any given day, only 50% of the capacity is used on the Mount Isa Line, meaning a potential to double the amount of freight currently being moved.

Mount Isa remains one of the only lines in Queensland run with no government support.

“If ever there were an example of the cart being placed before the horse, this is it,” Mr Katter said.

“More and more freight is hitting the bitumen, not rail, due mostly to the policy settings of the Queensland government.

“It was fantastic that current and former users of the Mount Isa Line were able to give two hours of their time in Townsville to give the Transport and Resources Ministers some often frank and fearless advice, and for the Queensland Rail bureaucrats to be there to hear it too.

“What they clearly said, was the charging mechanism is flawed, and there is no incentive to increase utilisation of the line.

“Issues such as reliability and resilience from weather events, and ongoing speed restrictions were also raised, however if there is not urgent structural reform to the charging mechanism, we will continue to see the trend of freight being moved onto the crumbling Flinders Highway,” Mr Katter said.

Flinders Shire Mayor, Kate Peddle said that she too welcomed any changes that would get freight off the Finders Highway, and back on the rail.

“The issue of imbalance between road and rail on the Flinders is primarily a government problem, and it needs to be addressed,” Mayor Peddle said.

“With the current developments like CopperString along the Highway, there is a significant opportunity for both road and rail transport to thrive.

“However, the pricing structures set by government are currently forcing companies to choose road over rail,” she said.

In recent years, 38% of the freight on the rail line has moved onto road.

Despite the Transport Minister’s parochial endorsement of Queensland infrastructure at the Townsville Port, participants at the roundtable spoke openly about the feasibility of moving freight from Mount Isa via Tennant Creek to the Port of Darwin.

Mr Katter said that he had heard of mining proponents seriously investigating any freight options to unlock the critical mineral resources in the North West, which didn’t involve dealing with the perverse policy on the Mount Isa Line.

“There are a range of serious, thoroughly planned options on the table from these companies – be that using Darwin, or even heading north to Karumba,” he said.

“The numbers stack up, when they consider the headache that is Queensland Rail and the Queensland Government policy settings.

“I’ve raised this issue with five Transport Ministers now during my time in Parliament.  The time for tokenistic money splashes on consultants to tell us what we already know has long gone.

“The time for change is now, and if this Transport wants to leave any sort of a legacy, fixing the Mount Isa Line charging would be a great start,” the Member for Traeger said.