Newsroom

January 12, 2026

After seeing the devastating flooding firsthand, it’s clear the only new dams in Queensland are to be found against Queensland Rail (QR) tracks!  The Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) Leader, and Member for Traeger has said. 

Large swathes of built-up rail line with poor drainage in the flood affected areas around Julia Creek are acting as dam walls, preventing flood waters from receding.

“There’s a heap of water across such a large landscape trying to work its way out to sea in the Gulf, and to see built-up rail line without drainage holding back the flow is just another hit to the graziers and communities dealing with the flood” the KAP Leader said.

“This event is far from the first time we’ve had a lot of water around.  Surely the engineers in their office in Brisbane could take note and build in drainage for events such as this.

“It really is like a kilometres long dam wall, and from the air you can see clearly that the line is built up to remain flat when the landscape drops.

“You can also see the enormous amount of water banked up behind, struggling to recede, keeping large areas under water for longer than needed,” Mr Katter said.

The Member for Traeger called for an urgent reassessment of drainage and the impact of the current design on the surrounding landscape.

“If this was the first flood in recent history, there might be some sympathy, but this is North Queensland.  We get wet seasons.  We need our vital infrastructure like the Mount Isa Line to be built fit for purpose,” Mr Katter said.

“I’ll be raising this directly with the Transport Minister, and the Disaster Recovery Minister, because as it is now, without decent drainage, the built-up rail corridor is making this flood worse than it needs to be.

“We need the government agencies and departments to be working together to better our state, not put band aids on issues.

“We need to come out of this latest event and implement what we learn, such as this drainage issue, and rebuild smarter and better because there will be another wet.

“The best advisers don’t work in an office in Brisbane; they live and breathe the landscape out here every day.  It would pay for the engineers in the departments to listen to local knowledge and experience before drawing up their next designs,” the KAP Leader said.

Photo: The Mount Isa Rail Line from a helicopter showing the dam effect the raised rail line is having.