Nationals leader Matt Canavan has taken his swag from Griffith and is heading north. Photo: Matt Canavan Facebook.
After sleeping in a swag in the freezing cold of Griffith for several nights during the Farrer by-election campaign, Nationals leader Matt Canavan says he will now camp along the planned Inland Rail route in a bid to save the project.
Mr Canavan roughed it at a Griffith caravan park while campaigning for Nationals candidate Brad Robertson – not because of the town’s chronic housing shortage, but so he could identify with locals doing it tough.
“There’s some very nice hotels in Griffith … [but] it’s been good to keep myself grounded here … A lot of people are doing it rougher than me, and it is pretty cold out here, but it’s keeping me sharp, because the people of Farrer deserve a good representation,” he told media.
Mr Canavan’s camping trip attracted national attention during the by-election campaign, with overnight temperatures in Griffith dropping close to zero. He later admitted he had to upgrade his sleeping gear after underestimating the Riverina cold. He said he chose to stay in a hotel when he moved to Albury, but that was worse because the heating didn’t work.
The Nationals leader is now turning his attention to the Inland Rail project after the Federal Government announced it would complete the Melbourne-to-Parkes section, shelving the long-promised connection through to Brisbane because of soaring costs.
The original 1600 km Melbourne-to-Brisbane freight rail project was once estimated to cost about $10 billion, but the figure has since blown out to more than $45 billion.
Mr Canavan criticised the decision to effectively cut the line about 1000 km short, arguing it undermined the entire vision of Inland Rail.
“The Inland Rail is a nation-building project that would create 16,000 jobs and take 200,000 truck movements off our roads,” he said.
“Labor’s cuts last week undermine all of these benefits and undercut the millions that have been invested by businesses and communities preparing for this project.
“I just got back from camping in Farrer for the by-election and now I will be rolling out the swag along the Inland Rail route and fighting for them.
“We won’t take this lying down and will be fighting like hell for our regional communities.”
Mr Canavan in Griffith after camping the night there in April. Photo: Matt Canavan.
The Coalition has launched a petition and campaign website called “Rescue Our Rail” in response to the decision.
Federal Transport Minister Catherine King defended the move, saying a 2023 independent review found “major deficiencies” in the project’s governance and delivery under the former Coalition government.
The debate has reignited anger in parts of the Riverina, where some advocates argue an alternative route through Narrandera should have been adopted years ago.
In 2015, Brisbane-based private consortium National Trunk Rail (NTR) proposed a $13 billion freight route linking Melbourne and Brisbane via Shepparton, Tocumwal and Narrandera.
NTR argued the alignment was a “flatter, faster, more efficient” route that passed directly through major food-producing regions, making it more accessible for farmers in Griffith, Leeton, Hay and Hillston. However, the Federal Gvernment decided to back a publicly-owned company which proposed a route through Wagga and Albury.
“Governments are the wrong people to implement these sorts of projects,” former NTR chairman Martin Albrecht said.
“Our figures are still on record. We maintain that we could have built the whole thing for $13 billion.
“It should not cost $45 billion if you build the right line and have the right accountability.”
