Federal Member for Parkes Jamie Chaffey says regional communities along the corridor will be robbed of thousands of dollars worth of construction and permanent jobs and the long-term economic stimulus that investment in regional freight infrastructure generates.
On Wednesday Transport Minister Catherine King announced the Inland Rail project would stop at Parkes, seemingly unaware of already-constructed sections to Narromine, and between Narromine and North Star.
Federal Member for Parkes Jamie Chaffey says. “This decision is a huge betrayal of regional Australia. It throws away the $3.5 billion already spent on this critical project which is approximately 17% complete.”
Conservative estimates put the pre-construction sunk cost north of Parkes alone at $500 million to $1 billion.
“More than 160km of upgraded track between Narrabri and North Star – which has been completed and operational since 2023 – is now a spur to nowhere, disconnected at both ends and generating no commercial value.
“Now 200,000 truck movements each year are locked onto regional roads, and we are looking at no significant further capacity to grow our country’s productivity. In 2011, Albanese called this project ‘central’ to lifting Australia’s productivity. Now, he is abandoning it and abandoning regional Australia.”
NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin says “Governments can’t ask rural and regional communities to carry the burden of disruptive construction, then just change direction without accountability.
“If Inland Rail is being ‘refocused’, then fairness for landholders, clarity for affected businesses, and genuine freight capacity upgrades must be the non negotiables.
“Certainty matters, and if the funding is stopping at Parkes then the government must be upfront about what happens next, because real people and real businesses have already paid a price.”