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No ifs, no buts: Australia needs high-speed rail

   Anthony Albanese
   Anthony Albanese
   High-speed rail would revolutionise interstate travel, and would also
   be an economic game-changer. All we need is politicians with vision

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   High speed rail

   [ ] Will the government move forward? Photograph: Alamy
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   This quotation from blind American educator Helen Keller is an
   excellent starting point for anyone thinking about building a
   high-speed railway (HSR) line down Australia's east coast.
   At the superficial level, the project seems a challenge too large to
   consider undertaking. It is estimated the 1,748km line linking Brisbane
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   terms. However, studies have shown that for every dollar spent on HSR
   on the first section between Sydney and Melbourne, the project would
   return $2.15 in economic benefit to our nation. High-speed rail would
   revolutionise interstate travel, and would also be an economic
   game-changer for dozens of regional communities along its path. That's
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   current political cycle. In next month's first Abbott budget,
   Australians will see for themselves whether the government has the
   capacity for forward thinking, or whether high speed rail and its
   economic and social opportunities are put in the "too hard" basket. So
   far, the signs are not good. During last year's federal election
   campaign, former prime minister Kevin Rudd promised to allocate $52m to
   establish a statutory authority to help guide the development of the
   high-speed rail project over coming decades. Crucially, that investment
   was to be the first instalment used to begin securing the corridor for
   the project. Unless action is taken now to begin preserving the land
   corridor needed for the line, urban sprawl could make it unviable.
   But in one of the government's first announcements after taking office,
   the government abolished the High-Speed Rail Advisory Group, which
   included experts like former deputy prime minister and railway expert
   Tim Fischer and Business Council of Australian chief executive Jennifer
   Westacott. Against the background of that decision, advocates of
   high-speed rail will be watching next month's budget closely. Will the
   government move forward? Or will it cut the $52m already in the budget
   for use on other commitments such as, for example, paying wealthy women
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   cutting pensions, health funding and the ABC.
   It is the case that deputy prime minister and infrastructure minister
   Warren Truss promoted high-speed rail in a speech to the Australasian
   Railway Association last November, shortly after taking office. Truss
   repeated the high-speed rail study finding that that by 2065,
   individual trips down Australia's east coast would double from current
   levels to 355m a year. "Can we imagine our skies and airports (with)
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   with double the traffic?''

   The passage of time is likely to make high-speed rail more and more
   desirable, making it critical that politicians of today think ahead to
   tomorrow. For example, the effects of climate change will create
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   opportunities for communities along the railway line like the Gold
   Coast, Newcastle, Wagga Wagga, Albury-Wodonga, and Shepparton.
   High speed rail is an important competent of Australia's infrastructure
   future. As with other areas of infrastructure, planning is the
   essential first step. All it requires is some vision.