North Queensland, with a population of less than 600,000 (north of Rockhampton), boasts an extensive road network that is vital for a wide variety of uses, including industry and tourism.
It features about 28,000km of sealed rural and major urban roads, although the vast majority of the minor rural road network remains unsealed.
Each year, the road network in north Queensland is used to transport a wide range of agricultural outputs, including four million tonnes of sugar or cane, 3.1 million head of cattle, 120,000 bales of cotton, 60,000 tonnes of milk and 35,000 tonnes of horticulture. The figures are even bigger when inputs are included.
With the introduction of motor vehicles early in the 20th century, there was significant pressure to improve roads for vehicle use, with initial emphasis on creating links from farming regions to the rail network and connecting towns.
Then from the 1970s, through the Beef Roads and other schemes, rough rural tracks were upgraded, widened and progressively sealed, increasing all-year accessibility and providing significant economic benefits to north Queensland.
Unlike early in the 20th century where rail was heavily used, the vast majority of travel to processors, ports and domestic markets is now via road transport.
The shift to road transport was driven by flexibility combined with a significant reduction in the cost of using road transport through improved road conditions and the use of higher productivity vehicles from the 1980s.
Despite the advances in the 20th century, there is still a wide range of road infrastructure opportunities to reduce costs of transport, improve supply chain flexibility, particularly around the wet season, to open up growth opportunities in the north and provide better access to markets in the south.
Supply chains to southern markets are characterised by long transport routes, often over 2000km and costing up to 40 per cent of the market price of the agriculture carted.
Over the last 15 years, CSIRO has played a significant role helping industry improve efficiencies on existing roads and informing infrastructure investments.
First, with the sugar industry to reduce their combined harvesting and cane transport costs, and more recently with the beef industry.
Through combined state and federal government funding, CSIRO developed the Transport Network Strategic Investment Tool (TraNSIT). This state-of-the-art logistics computer-based modelling tool is able to holistically evaluate a wide range of infrastructure and regulatory opportunities to help reduce the costs of transport.
TraNSIT was used to inform the recent $100 million Beef Roads Programme, outlined in the Australian Government’s White Paper for Developing Northern Australia.
The work highlighted several opportunities in north Queensland, including:
- access to the east coast by high productivity vehicles is still a major bottleneck, with last mile opportunities showing big benefit to cost ratios
- scope to improve some inland north-south routes, which are increasingly used for livestock transport and other road users, but have large portions that are still unsealed. The anticipated increase in future agricultural production in the northern catchments will likely generate further demand for these routes.
With the total construction cost of all beef road submissions for northern Australia exceeding $3 billion, CSIRO’s TraNSIT will assist the government to decide what road and infrastructure upgrades will make the greatest difference to north Queensland producers.
Improved roads boost beef in the north
Transport infrastructure has certainly come a long way in north Queensland over the past 50 years.
According to the former president of the Queensland Livestock Transporters Association, Liz Schmidt, Charters Towers, bitumen has long replaced the dirt roads, and there is certainly not the number of gates to open.
“The Northern Australia Beef Roads national policy recognises the value of beef, and every upgrade of a Beef Road is for the greater good of the wider community,” Ms Schmidt said.
“We have also seen increased productivity with up to six decks being pulled by a prime mover with bigger horsepower.
“The biggest improvement has been to the John McEwan Beef Road, along with the Belyando Beef Road.”
– By Helen Walker