Have Your Say

LABOR TO SLASH INLAND RAIL PROJECT

5 May 2026

Federal Member for Riverina Michael McCormack has slammed the Labor Government’s reported plans to slash investment into the Inland Rail.

It comes as media reports reveal the Federal Government plans to end the line at Parkes, instead of the plan to build the Inland Rail to Brisbane.

Mr McCormack said the upcoming Federal Budget was shaping up to become another infrastructure bloodbath, with the regions again set to suffer the most.

“This Labor Government has failed to control migration, has not addressed the housing crisis, has allowed the cost-of-living crisis and rising inflation to continue unabated and now it is further cutting infrastructure which will only create further issues,” Mr McCormack said.

“The Inland Rail is nation-building infrastructure – I was the Minister who signed the inter-governmental agreements with then Victorian Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan in Melbourne on 16 March 2018, then New South Wales Deputy Premier John Barilaro in Parkes on 4 May 2018, and then Queensland Transport Minister Mark Bailey on 29 November 2019 in Toowoomba.

“The vision was there for all to see, but apparently this Labor Government lacks the foresight to deliver anything in the infrastructure space. The Minister for Infrastructure is showing complete disdain for those in the infrastructure industry and those in the regions.

“This will come at the cost of regional jobs. Regional economies will suffer further from this neglectful decision. No doubt we should hear from country mayors angry at the continued neglect Labor has inflicted on regional Australians.

“This Government has thumbed its nose at the regions from the moment it came into office. From ceasing regional funding programs, such as the Building Better Regions Fund in 2022, to putting a pause on projects to conduct a 90-day review which took more than 200 days, creating uncertainty and delays to regional roads and other infrastructure projects.

“This Government does not care about the regions or the hard-working people who live, work and raise families there.”

Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Senator Bridget McKenzie said by cancelling the Inland Rail, terminating it at Parkes, the Government was effectively admitting it has lost control of its budget but now regional Australians are paying the price. “Labor inherited a project 100 years in the making – a project that was intended to build resilience to the north-south freight network linking Melbourne and Brisbane,” Senator McKenzie said. “History will record that this Labor Government pulled up the tracks half-way without any warning.

“This decision means no long-term project is safe, undermining sovereign risk for Australia’s national $270 billion infrastructure build.”

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