Of that $100 million is being invested under the Northern Australia Beef Roads Program, and an additional $200 million under the Northern Australia Roads Program.

Of that $10 million will be spent on roads in the north west.

They include:

Richmond-Croydon Road progressive sealing works package 1 $3.2 million package 2 $0.96 million

Cloncurry - Dajarra Road progressive sealing works $2.58 million

Diamantina Developmental Road (Boulia - Dajarra) Rehabilitation and widening works $4.03 million.

There is also $20 million for Landsborough Highway between Longreach and Winton for the pavement widening and strengthening of around 24 kilometres of road.

It’s all good news because agriculture supply chains in Australia are often characterised by transport distances of over 1000 km between production, processing and markets, with transport costs accounting for up to 40 per cent of the market price.

CSIRO has developed a TraNSIT tool analyses transport and logistics options for agriculture to identify potential cost savings.

TraNSIT stands for Transport Network Strategic Investment Tool and it is capable of analysing small and large scale investments in the agriculture supply chain, with current applications covering almost all Australian agricultural logistics.

CSIRO applied TraNSIT to inform the Northern Australia Beef Roads Program and maximise transport cost savings in beef supply chains across the north.

It is a clever tool that analyses all possible combinations of transport routes and modes (road and rail) and determining those that optimise vehicle movements in the agriculture supply chain, incorporating factors such as road/rail condition, temporary closures and diversions, and the availability of supporting facilities such as truck stops and holding yards. 

It’s a shame this same government is butchering CSIRO and preventing them from coming up with similar great money-saving measures. DB