Central Highlands Development Corporation

The past couple of months have continued to demonstrate the real need to continually advocate for the Central Highlands across all fronts - but particularly infrastructure development and priority projects. I offer some recent updates from Infrastructure Australia and the recent Inland Rail Conference that provide a peek at the landscape ahead of us.

A new wave of investment and reform is needed to ensure Australia's infrastructure continues to support our quality of life and economic productivity over the next 15 years, according to the 2019 Australian Infrastructure Audit published by Infrastructure Australia, the nation's independent infrastructure advisor. 

"Changing and growing demand, and a mounting maintenance backlog, is putting unprecedented pressure on the infrastructure services each and every Australian relies on. The current infrastructure program must do more than plug the immediate funding gap, but instead deliver long-term changes to the way we plan, fund and deliver infrastructure," said Infrastructure Australia Chair Julieanne Alroe.  

"Rather than a short-term boom, the historic level of activity we are seeing in the sector must, and is likely to, continue for the next 15 years and potentially beyond. This must be the new normal if we are to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead."

The 2019 Australian Infrastructure Audit presents a forward-looking view of our infrastructure challenges and opportunities over the next 15 years and beyond. It is the second national audit Infrastructure Australia has undertaken, after the first was published in 2015, and examines the infrastructure needs of the Australian community and industry - covering the major infrastructure sectors of energy, transport, telecommunications, water and, for the first time, social infrastructure and waste.

The Inland Rail Conference in Toowoomba had more than 460 delegates participating in the event, which was presented by the Australian Logistics Council (ALC) and Australasian Railway Association (ARA).

Participants explored multiple facets of this nationally-significant freight infrastructure project and set out the actions needed to ensure local communities, consumers, producers, freight operators and the Australian economy derive the full benefits of Inland Rail, both during the construction phase and once it is operational.

The Inland Rail project, a 1,700km railway line directly linking Brisbane to Melbourne, will transform Australia's freight networks, enhancing supply chain efficiency and safety, boosting the nation's export competitiveness and unlocking regional development and employment opportunities for local communities. Our interest is to promote the value of the original concept of an inland rail route from Melbourne to Darwin which intersects with the Central Highlands at the CQ Inland Port. 

Through the presentations and a series of interactive discussions with expert panellists, this year's conference identified a number of key themes and priority actions that governments and industry must now work collaboratively to pursue:

• Interconnectivity is everything. While Inland Rail will play a critical role as a 'spine' in our freight network, it will ultimately rely on connections to other key freight infrastructure, including intermodal hubs and ports.

• Collaboration between governments is essential. Governments at all levels right along the alignment need to be working together. This will ensure landholders and communities are supported during planning and to share in the benefits of Inland Rail as soon as possible. Delegates urged the Queensland Government and the Commonwealth to sign the Intergovernmental Agreement that will allow construction work in Queensland to begin. 

• Port connectivity is critical. Separation of passenger and freight rail in our cities is critical for our supply chain efficiency. The release of the joint study undertaken by the Commonwealth and Queensland Governments into freight rail links between the Acacia Ridge and the Port of Brisbane should be expedited.

• Getting the balance right. To maximise the benefits of Inland Rail, complementary investment and regulatory reform is required across four key critical areas: road pricing; data capture and sharing; achieving the right modal balance across modes; and getting terminals right.

• Meeting customers' demands. Customers' targets for the Inland Rail Project include reliability of service, improved connectivity, sustainability of freight services, express capability under 24 hours and seamless last mile arrangements.

• Community engagement is crucial. By proactively working with local communities, sourcing local materials and using local contractors to support delivery of the project, Inland Rail will deliver an economic boost to regional communities, during and beyond its construction phase. Genuine, open and honest consultation with landowners must continue to occur to ensure those affected have opportunities to provide input on the route alignment. 

• Inland Rail will diversify regional workforces. Through initiatives such as the Inland Rail Skills Academy, the construction of Inland Rail will provide regional workforces with the skills needed to maintain and oversee the operation of Australia's modern rail freight network into the future.

• Advantages of Inland Rail for urban communities should be highlighted. The project will help improve the environmental performance of the freight sector by lowering emissions, will make it easier to get fresh produce to urban markets and will help to address road and rail congestion for urban residents. It is important to recognise that the benefits of Inland Rail extend beyond regional communities.

• Data capture allows for more effective investment decisions. Industry participants across all modes of freight transport should actively support initiatives like the National Freight Data Hub, so that supply chain performance can be monitored and measured.

• Inland Rail aligns with actions outlined in the National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy. As States along the alignment publish implementation plans for the Strategy, they must set out how new freight infrastructure will connect with Inland Rail, and indicate deadlines for the completion of such infrastructure.

• New freight precincts must incorporate viable rail links. The National Planning Principles, which the Commonwealth has agreed to develop as part of the Strategy, should require new intermodals and freight precincts to demonstrate how they will link with relevant rail infrastructure, including Inland Rail.

Interestingly, an MOU was signed between the ARA and the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) to develop the Inland Rail Skills Academy. ARA CEO Danny Broad said, "ARA welcomes ARTC's commitment to create education, training, skills development and employment opportunities to support the Inland Rail project and we look forward to working to ensure the Academy is developing real training opportunities for local skilled labour in rail construction, operations and maintenance".

This emphasises the heavy focus on the requirement for skills across the project environs and notes one approach. Another approach is the recently announced partnership between BHP Mitsubishi Alliance, CQ University and TAFE Qld with the Future Skills Partnership.  BMA Asset President James Palmer said the partnership will drive innovation in new approaches to skilling the resources industry workforce for jobs of the future.

"The partnership will define the first wave of new skills that may be required to support technology advances, and to establish the education opportunities for individuals to acquire these skills," Mr Palmer said.

No doubt there'll need to be more effective collaborative approaches such as these to meet the skills needs of today and tomorrow.  We're advocating that these approaches seriously map the in-region requirements and opportunities.