EDDIE WILLIAMS, HOST: Meanwhile, you've heard in recent times and you've probably seen it for yourself, the millions of dollars of damage that heavy rainfall has caused to our back roads in WA’s north over the past couple of years. Given how busy the tourist season was, authorities have been in a race against time to repair the roads before the next wave of damaging rain arrives. It is a source of frustration for motorists around the country and a new federal parliamentary inquiry is now going to look at this issue of road resilience and the implications of severe weather events on regional, rural and remote roads. Luke Gosling is the Chair of the Standing Committee on Regional Development, Infrastructure and Transport, which is undertaking this inquiry. He's an MP from the Northern Territory. Luke Gosling, good morning.
LUKE GOSLING, MEMBER FOR SOLOMON: Good morning, Eddie. How are you?
WILLIAMS: I'm good, thank you. What's prompted you to launch this inquiry?
GOSLING: This wasn't actually going to be the first topic for the inquiry. We're going to look at alternative fuels in the rail and maritime domains. But after talking to the members of the committee and it's a bipartisan committee, so members of the Labor government – and I'm the chair – but as well as our members from the Coalition and from the crossbench, I just asked them what issues were really resonating for them in their parts of Australia, regional Australia in particular. And of course with all the damaging flooding in the eastern states and obviously being in the Territory and north-west WA, we're well aware of the damage of flooding rains. So we decided to look at that issue and look at what role the Federal Government can play. Of course everyone at local government level or in a state and Territory government level want the Federal Government to provide full funding to assist them with their road challenges. But we also, as well as looking at the current situation, want to look at how we can design roads better, have resilient road corridors, where we can prioritize funding so that we can have more roads open for longer when there's flooding, when flooding occurs. And I guess it's important not only for motorists to be able to get around, but other road users and for industry so they can get their goods to market, whether that be down in the Pilbara or know in the top end or in areas of regional Australia more generally.
WILLIAMS: Yeah, we've seen that the impact on supply chains that and those floods over east have had, has that sort of added to the urgency around this issue?
GOSLING: Yeah, it really has. I think we've going to have a pretty good year from an agriculture perspective, but it could have been absolutely gangbusters if it wasn't for crops, some crops being ruined, one, and then access being difficult, two, due to washed away roads. And certainly on the east coast and feedback from a lot of our regional MPs out there is the people doing really well now are those who sell tyres for cars or trucks and those that fix suspension, because you know, there's a lot of potholed roads around our nation. And we've got such a massive nation with a relatively small population. I don’t need to remind your listeners of that in north-west WA. But it means that we've got vast road networks, both remote and rural roads connecting regional centres and then our big national highways. And they need to be safe to travel on, and they need to be functional and more resilient to extreme weather events because we know that with the effects of climate change, we're going to see more and more extreme weather events into the future. So we're also going to look at the best practice around the world and around Australia, hearing from a whole range of stakeholders about how through better design and construction materials we can make these roads into the future more resilient to those inundations that we're going to continue to see.
WILLIAMS: We've already seen so far this wet season Fitzroy Crossing cut off due to flooding with closures on the Great Northern Highway. What's the impact that you've seen, that you've heard about on towns and communities, especially when there's only one road in and out?
GOSLING: Yeah, those impacts are massive. Obviously if they’re coastal communities, then barges are used in the north to access those communities by sea. But of course, if you're a landlocked community and you're hit by flooding, as we see in the Territory pretty regularly for some of our remote communities, it means they're cut off. And often we have to evacuate whole communities into Darwin because the roads become impassable. But it's not a cheap business, fixing roads, building large bridges and levees. So we need to look at how we can use the funding that we have got. And our Federal Government is committed to regional Australia. How we can use that funding to secure more resilient road corridors? The most important roads, to make sure they're resilient to allow access for community and for industry to make those dollars go further and keep communities, you know, prevent them from being cut off, essentially.
WILLIAMS: You mentioned the fact that every level of government is always looking for more funding. In the Kimberley, the Gibb River Road had about one million dollars worth of damage last wet season. There were huge washouts on the side of Cape Leveque Road. One of the local Shire presidents, Geoff Haerewa in Derby West Kimberley, has said that the current process around applying for funding is very bureaucratic, a lot of red tape. But he's also said if you spend a bit more in making better roads, you will save yourself money in the longer term. Will you look at these sorts of funding issues as well in this inquiry?
GOSLING: Yeah, it's a very broad inquiry. I made sure that we included “and related matters” within the terms of reference of the inquiry so we can hear from people in local government. We know there's going to be a lot of feedback from local government but also from state and territory governments because they're the sorts of economies that we're keen to find out about. You know, what would the extra funding have achieved in his example? And I'd obviously invite everyone to put in a submission through the Australian Parliament House website. And then we'll be actually heading out, once we've received submissions which close at the end of February, we'll be heading out into areas of regional Australia and I'm really keen to get out west to hear from people out there. My friends and family have driven the Gibb River Road, but I haven't had the opportunity. My wife many years ago lived out in the Pilbara and I certainly know from her experiences out there what the impacts of cyclones and floods can be. So yeah, we'll endeavour to get out there and hear from people on the ground about what their priorities are and what ideas they've got about in particular these resilient road corridors.
WILLIAMS: I'm speaking with Luke Gosling on ABC Pilbara and ABC Kimberley. He's the chair of the Standing Committee on Regional Development, Infrastructure and Transport. They've just launched this inquiry into road resiliency. In the Pilbara, you've got a huge volume of heavy vehicles on the road, iron ore trucks and road trains which obviously has an impact on the road surface. Is there a role for mining companies in that instance, other private sector investment, in helping to fund more resilient roads?
GOSLING: Yeah, I believe there is. Most definitely. Obviously, I won't speak for the WA Government. I'm not part of the WA Government. And what understandings or agreements they've got with the resource industry up there. But having driven on a lot of those roads, it's pretty obvious the damage that occurs. And obviously they need to be cognizant of the fact that they're not the only road users. And we need a road system that is fit for purpose for all, and we need industry to contribute to the upkeep of those roads as well. If we don't, it's the public that are going to suffer. And at the end of the day, that's our job, is to represent the public in regional Australia who need roads, who help obviously grow our industry, but to live their lives, to get connected to services for their friends and family, the workplaces. And that's why we've embarked on this inquiry, because we know that roads are such essential enabling infrastructure for industry as well as being the lifeblood to the communities right around our nation. So that's why I will be getting around the nation and getting feedback. But in the meantime, I obviously hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Year. But if this is an important issue to you, jump on the old computer and whack in a submission to the inquiry because it will help us to find out where the pressure points are around the nation, and also help us guide our inquiry as it moves forward next year, including those visits to areas of regional Australia that this is a real issue for.
WILLIAMS: And those submissions are open until the end of February. Luke Gosling, appreciate your time this morning.
GOSLING: Great to chat with you, Eddie, cheers.
