Inland Rail project linking Melbourne and Brisbane billions over budget

One of Australia’s biggest infrastructure projects is “way over budget and behind schedule” and has been treated as “a bizarre vanity project”, according to federal Transport Minister Catherine King.

The $14.5 billion Inland Rail project, designed to establish a rail link between Melbourne and Brisbane, is under construction through the regional regions of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

The project will complete Australia’s national rail network and include 600 kilometers of new track.

But an unpublished independent review recently identified “significant concerns” with the project, and Ms King told the National Press Club on Wednesday that the report made “exciting reading”.

Blaming the Morrison government for losing sight of the project’s goals, Ms King said the Inland Rail project served as a “damning indictment” of its former administrators.

‘I think the previous government lost sight (its objectives). They didn’t see it as a project that had those goals,” he said.

“With my predecessor, frankly, I think the project became something of a weird vanity project for him. And now Inland Rail, it’s way over budget and way behind schedule.”

Former Nationals leader Michael McCormack was transport minister during the Morrison government.

Ms King said the government was finalizing a response to the independent review of Inland Rail, prepared by former Sydney Water chief executive Dr Kerry Schott, and would respond to its findings “soon”.

The Inland Rail project, which began in 2018, was originally set to cost $4.7 billion but, experts have warned, could end up costing more than $20 billion by its 2027 expiration date.

But opposition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie said the big rail investment had the potential to “benefit all Australians” and that Ms King should focus on delivering rather than criticizing it.

“Instead of badmouthing Inland Rail and calling it a vanity project, the Minister should constructively work through the complex decisions for the next stages of the project,” said Ms McKenzie.

Ms King also used her address at the National Press Club to warn that other transport links in Australia had been ‘neglected for too long’ and could leave Australians vulnerable to vital freight disruption.

Transport Minister Catherine King (pictured) has blamed mismanagement of the project by the previous Morrison government for its costs and delays.

Some Australian rail networks have been forced to shut down up to 20 percent of the time, he said, while others faced a higher risk of natural disasters.

“The transcontinental rail line, the Stuart Highway, the Carpentaria Highway, the South Coast Highway in WA and the Western Main Rail line out of Sydney – all are vital transport links and all are classified as high risk,” said.

‘These routes struggle to cope at best. As the weather changes, we will see more and more outages.”

But rather than commit to undertaking more transportation projects to build capacity, Ms. King cautioned that some investment may need to be cut to control costs and prioritize limited resources.

The Inland Rail project is intended to link Melbourne with Brisbane through regional areas, requiring 600km of new track.

He said a forthcoming Infrastructure Australia review would create a smaller, ‘targeted’ list of project priorities with stricter planning and assessment criteria.

Australia did not have enough workers to complete ongoing infrastructure projects, Ms King warned, with a current shortfall of 94,000 workers expected to rise to 112,000 workers in September.

“This shortage is particularly felt in relation to engineers, surveyors, project managers and laborers, among many others,” he said.

“Without getting too political, we have to determine which projects are truly deliverable and which were just political window dressing.”