- A national systems approach
Whole-of-systems thinking
5.1Engineers Australia advocated for a systems based approach to road infrastructure planning, referencing Infrastructure Australia’s A Pathway to Infrastructure Resilience advisory paper. The paper focuses on governance and coordination and shifts from viewing infrastructure within asset-class silos to a broader lens that identifies and plans for the interdependencies between systems and mitigates risks.
5.2Infrastructure Australia’s advisory paper is centred around the concept of ‘infrastructure for resilience’, being the contribution of assets to the resilience of the system. The paper highlighted the interdependencies between the resilience of infrastructure assets and economic, social, and environmental outcomes, and called for greater alignment and coordination across government infrastructure planning, emergency management, community resilience, and land use planning.
5.3Additionally, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) stated that Australia’s transport infrastructure is not well placed to support economic growth. For example, financing and investment opportunities for Australia to leverage global supply chains for commodities such as critical minerals and rare earths require an investment in infrastructure and holistic whole-of-government support. The ASPI stated that:
…financing and investment can’t be opened up if we don’t take a more holistic approach to the development of transport infrastructure that creates the sorts of infrastructure that is prepared for and resilient to climate change, to increasing and more frequent continuous and concurrent changes.
5.4Furthermore, the Australian Logistics Council (ALC) asserted that rebuilding our road infrastructure assets firstly requires an understanding that complex supply chain systems require a systems approach that acknowledges the interdependencies across the supply chain, including land use and infrastructure planning, rather than restricting the issue to a linear road network.
5.5The Bureau of Infrastructure Transport and Research Economics (BITRE) Road and Rail Supply Chain Resilience Review – Phase 1 found that while the road and rail supply chains are generally resilient, severe weather events have exposed the need to strengthen future resilience. The review noted that an overarching national approach is required to address existing gaps and risks in the transport context, and support holistic network-wide consideration of supply chain resilience. Gaps and barriers to holistic network resilience included variability across states and territories around flood risk measurement, gaps in data collection and sharing, and lifting infrastructure capability and capacity.
Freight and supply chain resilience
5.6The BITRE Road and Rail Supply Chain Resilience Review – Phase 1 defines supply chain resilience as per the broader definition from the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience:
The ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate, adapt to, transform and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions through risk management.
5.7The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia (CMEWA) emphasised the critical relationship between transport infrastructure resilience, supply chain resilience, and socio-economic sustainability:
Our infrastructure is the lifeblood of our nation’s supply chain and our economy. Roads, railways and ports are the arteries through which goods and services flow, connecting producers to consumers, facilitating essential trade and driving important economic growth. When these crucial networks are compromised by extreme weather events, the repercussions are felt far and wide, affecting industries, communities, business, and the everyday lives of our regional and remote team members.
5.8Road infrastructure disruptions arising from severe weather events significantly impact supply chain deliveries of food and medical supplies to communities, and affect import and export trade. Furthermore, ongoing road closures and shortages of essential goods and services potentially lead to inflated prices and higher cost of living expenses.
5.9The Committee heard numerous accounts of the impact of supply chain disruptions across various industries. For example, the National Farmers Federation (NFF) stated that the disruption has been ‘catastrophic and significant’ across the food and fibre supply chain. Recent years have seen record grain harvests, yet significant road damage has disrupted grain transportation to depots and silos.
5.10Record grain harvests in Western Australia over a number of seasons and limited rail access to transport the grain to maritime ports have resulted in excess stores of grain in the state’s central Wheatbelt area, along with substantial economic loss. The Pastoralists and Graziers Association of Western Australia (PGAWA) told the Committee that the ‘critical situation right now is the amount of grain that’s imprisoned in the Kwinana system, up country, because we can’t get it to port’. Consequently, transporting the grain by road has resulted in significantly higher volumes of freight task on the road network.
5.11The Committee heard that road and rail freight volumes for grain are comparable at around 900,000 tonnes transported on each network. When asked if the increased volumes had accelerated road asset deterioration, the WA Grains Group (WAGG), responded that ‘it’s probably having a bigger impact than it would be normally when the majority was going by rail. There’s no doubt about that’.
5.12The PGAWA added that because the local grain-handling authority had closed a significant number of small rail sidings, ‘there are more road trains now than there have ever been before. Almost every farmer is either operating his own or using a contractor with a road train’. The PGAWA noted that most of the roads used by farmers and contractors are not rated for road trains.
5.13The East Kimberley Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EKCCI) emphasised the significant disruptions to supply chains and freight and food security arising from the Fitzroy River floods:
The recent flooding event in Fitzroy Crossing and the subsequent collapse of the Fitzroy Crossing Bridge effectively severed the Kimberley in two and created significant disruptions to the East Kimberley region and, in particular, the business community, with the most significant being the fact that we lost our main supply route overnight. Businesses reported to us that they use the Great Northern supply route for 75 per cent of their freight needs, both incoming and outgoing. So what was a 3,000 kilometre trip coming up from Perth turned into a 6,000 trip overnight through South Australia, the Northern Territory and back into Western Australia. So freight costs doubled and, in some cases, tripled for businesses overnight.
5.14Consequently, there was no alternative supply route over the Fitzroy River for 105days. The EKCCI noted that the East Kimberley is a growing economic area, with the Ord Irrigation scheme expansion, mining, and agricultural growth. Freight security is essential to the region’s economic sustainability. The EKCCI called for a federally funded economic plan to support development in the East Kimberley region to justify infrastructure expenditure.
5.15The Western Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley Local Emergency Management Committee (LEMC) representative told the Committee the Fitzroy River road closures delayed transporting cattle out of the East Kimberley to the West Kimberley to the ports and live export ships. The Horizon Power and LEMC representative noted that uncertainties around fuel deliveries to supply power to remote communities raised considerable stress among community members.
5.16The Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley (SWEK) noted that additional freight costs to detour from Perth to the Kimberley region were passed on to consumers, with prices for some products tripled. Additionally, of four main freight carriers servicing the Kimberley region, two had subsequently withdrawn due to increased transport costs, and insufficient capacity, trucks, and manpower to service lengthy alternative routes.
5.17The CMEWA stressed the significance of the Pilbara road network to mining operations and emphasised the need for:
Preparedness of the safety environment and our emergency services to put in place temporary infrastructure in such situations [infrastructure disruptions]. We have seen an identification now of some of the key pieces of logistics assets, such as bridges across the rivers through the Pilbara and the Kimberley and having backup pieces of infrastructure to put in place if there is damage to those respective individual assets. That would be very important to us as an industry.
5.18Furthermore, Fortescue Metals Group stated that resilience needs to be embedded through collaboration with the relevant agencies across weather forecasting and multi-modal transport infrastructure including, roads, rail, ports, and air networks.
5.19The Freight and Logistics Council of Western Australia (FLCWA) commented that Australia’s growing import and export market means viewing transport infrastructure planning in terms of the current need to strengthen the road network, and the need to adapt to, and withstand, future economic growth and supply chain requirements.
5.20For example, FLCWA stated the influx of imported windfarm turbines will require an upgraded road infrastructure network. Resilient road networks in this context need to encompass both resilience against severe weather conditions and resilience to withstand the transportation growth in traffic volume and freight load.
Australian Defence Force critical infrastructure
5.21The Department of Defence (Defence) advised that the Defence Strategic Review recommended leveraging civil industry infrastructure capabilities in central and northern Australia, noting that:
Critical requirements such as supply chain diversity, environmental security, fuel and energy security and a robust national logistics capability are essential to our national security and strategic posture in the north of Australia.
5.22Furthermore, Defence advised logistics supply routes via ports and strategic freight road corridors are essential to service northern bases. The Committee heard the importance of synergies connecting strategic access for Defence in northern Australia and supply chain resilience, noting that civilian operators routinely provide heavy vehicle transport services and service Defence bases via critical freight routes.
Road maintenance and freight chain resilience
5.23The Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association (ALRTA) stated that while the road network more broadly supports more connectivity and high productivity freight vehicles, significant disruptions to the freight network arise from insufficient maintenance of smaller off-route roads from the farms to production centres. The ALRTA observed that ‘as the vehicles get better, the roads get worse’.
5.24The ALRTA further explained that first and last mile freight productivity is essential in moving goods from farms to the point of sale or processing. They added that road funding and regulatory reform would ideally work in tandem to address upgrades of the smaller off-route roads and incoming major freight routes.
5.25The Committee heard evidence that unsealed roads comprise a large freight network across Australia, supporting regional and remote communities and industry activities, yet are highly vulnerable to impacts of severe weather events and road closures. The NT Road Transport Association and Western Roads Federation (NTRTA/WRF) noted that the Northern Territory and Western Australian unsealed road network comprises about 70 per cent in each state and territory, with most roads requiring funding for upgrades.
The cost of supply chain disruptions
5.26Moreover, the NTRTA/WRF stated a number of key sealed freight routes across Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory have been subject to major disruptions arising from bushfires and floods. The NTRTA/WRF noted that the current Perth to East Kimberley route is nearly 12,000 kilometres return. Any disruptions to major freight routes have significant consequences for freight chain supply.
5.27The ALRTA advised that road disruptions directly affect transport costs due to lengthy detours and slower travel speeds on some roads, increased fuel usage and wages, and decreased capital utilisation rates when vehicles are not in use due to road closures or disruptions.
Multi-modal transport systems
5.28The Mid West Development Commission (MWDC) stated increased freight task raised questions around multi-modal transport options to reduce the prevalence of heavier freight vehicles on the road network. They explained that other modes of transport, such as rail, could assist in building road resilience by taking pressure off the road network. The MWDC mentioned that the increased mining exploration and grain volume in Western Australia had significantly increased freight task in the state.
5.29However, with regard to transporting the Western Australian grain crop, it was noted in evidence that both road and rail are necessary and complementary in their respective roles in the freight task system. For example, when the rail line was cut in South Australia, the grain was transported by road, albeit adding freight task volume to the road network. The MWDC emphasised that it is ‘about looking at broader transport network resilience and how the multiple modes fit together’.
5.30Both Transport for NSW and Engineers Australia suggested a strategic view of whole-of-transport network resilience would support road resilience. Transport for NSW noted that ‘disruptions to one will have a significant impact on the resilience of the other, and other parts of the network’. Additionally, Engineers Australia recommended identifying rail corridors as strategic priorities to alleviate pressure on the road network.
5.31While other modes of transport are not always feasible, the Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA) supported the view that where rail is available, this mode should be used to support road network resilience.
5.32The FLCWA highlighted the vulnerability of both road and rail networks to climate events arising from the Fitzroy River flooding and the Trans-Australian rail line break and raised the need to identify road, rail and port infrastructure weaknesses and solutions to support network and supply chain resilience.
5.33The Farmers for Climate Action (FCA) noted that both road and rail networks are susceptible to floods and bushfires, with longer lasting impacts on supply chains if both networks are disrupted or closed. The FCA called for government investment in improving the number and diversity of road and rail transport connections to support supply chain resilience.
5.34Additionally, Grain Producers Australia (GPA) called for a strategic analysis of national grains supply chains and infrastructure, including road quality, rail connectivity, and port access, to inform future national investment decisions. The GPA further sought coordinated consideration and investment at all levels of government to support a national comprehensive approach.
5.35The Western Roads Federation (WRF) highlighted the significant impact of freight route closures across both road and rail networks, citing recent closures from Adelaide to Darwin, Perth to Adelaide, and Perth to Darwin. The WRF emphasised the importance of both modes of transport in providing freight route alternatives to ensure supply chain connectivity.
5.36The Municipal Association of Victoria further supported the need to prioritise rail network resilience in broader transport network assessment and planning to support socio-economic sustainability, noting the significant freight volumes carried by rail networks.
Strategic freight corridors
5.37The NFF emphasised the importance of continued funding of the Australian Government’s Roads of Strategic Importance program to build resilient road corridors to support supply chain route capacity.
5.38Sealing the Tanami Road in the Northern Territory was consistently raised as a priority transport corridor. The Northern Territory Logistics Advisory Council and NTRTA representative advised that the Tanami Road was closed for eight weeks due to heavy rain events, restricting freight to the largest gold mine in the Northern Territory.
5.39In response to a question taken on notice, the Kimberley Development Commission advised the Committee that, based on information from Main Roads WA, the:
current funding allocated to sealing the WA portion of the Tanami Track is estimated to be adequate to seal the full length of the road from the Great Northern Highway to the Northern Territory border, based on current construction costs with some allowance for price escalation.
5.40The CMEWA provided a list of priority road upgrades to support safety outcomes and economic development, including the Tanami Road and Outback Way, and the Great Northern Highway, among others.
5.41The critical importance of the Newell Highway was highlighted in a submission, noting the highway has been flooded repeatedly since 1950 with significant road disruptions and closures. While it was noted that funding had been provided to upgrade parts of the Newell Highway, additional work is required to bring road sections up to resilient standards.
5.42The BITRE Road and Rail Supply Chain Resilience Review – Phase 1 reviewed key freight routes and identified those most vulnerable to a range of risks, including impacts of severe weather events. The vulnerability rating for the Northern Territory’s Arnhem Highway was ‘very high’, with a further seven national highways across Australia rated as ‘highly vulnerable’. Phase 2 of the Review will consider options to identify future climate risks and strengthen road network resilience.
Committee comment
5.43Our national freight supply routes, particularly those servicing northern Australia and the east-west corridors, have borne the brunt of many severe weather events, with freight vehicles diverted over thousands of kilometres to deliver goods and services.
5.44An efficient, resilient road network that is designed and constructed to contemporary and forward looking engineering standards is critical to enabling freight and food security and socio-economic growth and sustainability across Australia, particularly in our regional, rural, and remote areas.
5.45The Australian Government BITRE’s Road and Rail Supply Chain Resilience Review – Phase 1 has reviewed the vulnerability of key freight route infrastructure networks to better understand Australia’s road and rail resilience, including the impacts of climate change. Phase 2 of the Review will identify options to strengthen the resilience of road and rail networks which will include a range of climate risks.
5.46The inquiry evidence highlighted the need to consider multi-modal transport options to support road network resilience, for example, where rail may be a viable alternative to lessen the pressure of increased freight task and heavier vehicle technologies on the road network. The Committee is aware that Phase 2 of the Road and Rail Supply Chain Review will consider multi-modal transport options within the context of climate risks.