Cropping & Soil
20 January, 2025
Tie future federal road funding to greater route access, says GrainGrowers
Expand access under the A-double truck network, say GrainGrowers.
A national grains lobby group calls on the federal government to tie future road funding to gazetting road access to ensure more efficient trucks have reliable access to freight routes.
GrainGrowers has welcomed the recent federal funding announcement for the Bruce Highway in Queensland.
But GrainGrowers Trade and Supply Chains policy manager Annabel Mactier said the government needed to ensure the upgrade also expanded access under the Performance-Based Standards (PBS) A-double network.
That was also true of other states, with the additional focus on road improvements providing an opportunity to consider ways to address inconsistent network access.
GrainGrowers has urged the federal government to collaborate with state and local governments to address first and last-mile access, prioritise route upgrades that connected regional grain-growing areas to ports and processors and reform the national PBS scheme.
Ms Mactier said a coordinated approach to PBS A-double access would deliver stronger regional economies, enhance road safety, and further position Australia as a leader in efficient and sustainable grain production.
In addition to productivity benefits, PBS vehicles were significantly safer than conventional heavy vehicles.
According to the National Transport Commission (NTC), PBS vehicles were involved in 46 per cent fewer crashes than conventional heavy vehicles, and the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR estimated that the PBS program had saved 1.2 billion litres of fuel and 3.2 million tonnes of CO2.
"With tens of millions of tonnes of grain transported across Australia each year, we must take every opportunity to improve the freight network," Ms Mactier said.
Meanwhile, GrainGrowers also welcomed the government's decision to make urgently required rehabilitation and repair work to sections of the Western Highway, Victoria, as an essential first step toward improving all critical grain freight routes throughout the state.
Ms MacTier said the decision acknowledged the importance of the highway to the industry and local economy.
"As one of Victoria's highest-volume grain freight routes, the highway is critical for connecting the Wimmera - one of our key grain-growing regions - to domestic markets and export facilities in South Australia, Melbourne, and Geelong," she said.
"Improving the Western Highway will not only enhance safety but also strengthen the efficiency and reliability of grain transport, enabling grain growers in the Wimmera to get their grain to market faster and more cost-effectively."
The government has announced rehabilitation works are being carried out on a one-kilometre stretch of the highway between Kaniva and Nhill as part of a $964 million investment in road maintenance, while major repairs were also now underway in Beaufort and Trawalla.
Ms Mactier said the investment in road infrastructure would also improve road safety.
"Between Ballarat and Stawell, the Western Highway has seen 174 crashes over the past decade, tragically resulting in 15 fatalities and 104 serious injuries," she said.
But she said additional investment was required to address maintenance and upgrades on other critical grain freight routes across regional Victoria, citing the Hamilton Highway as a good example of issues caused by deteriorating roads.
"The Hamilton Highway has 16 different speed reductions due to rough surfaces between Hamilton and Geelong," she said.
"Ignoring the problem is not a solution, with the condition of the road yet another example of the safety and efficiency issues impacting grain transport."