Victoria Highway flooding prompts calls for a climate change audit of northern Australia’s road network

The second major flood in two years to cut off critical routes to the East Kimberley has prompted calls for a climate change resilience audit of northern Australia’s road network. Liberal member for the Mining and Pastoral Region Neil Thomson said the closure of the Victoria Highway for almost three weeks in January due to flooding exposed, “once again the vulnerability of our supply chains”. The Victoria Highway from Katherine in the NT to the WA border opened to all traffic, except over mass vehicles, on Sunday allowing freight to reach Kununurra from the Top End for the first time in nearly three weeks. Although the highway is now open to traffic the damage caused by the major flood is expected to take months to repair. Mr Thomson said while the north has had a long history of floods and road closures, recent events have highlighted just how vulnerable the north is. “We acknowledge that living in the north means road closures are inevitable, but long road closures with little support on the ground for those that are isolated is unacceptable,” he said. “More needs to be done to build resilience into our transport system. “The climate is changing . . . It’s been a tough few years in the north, with border restrictions of COVID and then the massive floods on the Fitzroy River closing the highway to the west for over 100 days.” Mr Thomson also noted the Federal and State governments’ delays in the construction of the Tanami Road was “extremely disappointing”, and said the route should be sealed as soon as possible to ensure the Kimberley economy can function when roads are closed to the east or the west. “I am calling on both the Federal, Territory and State governments to undertake an audit of road infrastructure across northern Australia, modelled against predictions of future flood events in particular. “More needs to be done on building resilience into our communities and infrastructure,” Mr Thomson said. Kununurra truckdriver James Coad of JT Coad Haulage spent 18 days in Katherine waiting for the highway to reopen. He said the highway is not maintained to cope with major floods in the wet season. “The road is a disgrace. The Territory Government have not spent money on the past 16 years that I have been driving it. “This isn’t the first time. I got stuck here (in Katherine) the previous year in March for a week.” Mr Coad said this time he met 20 other Kununurra residents who were also stuck in Katherine waiting for the road to reopen. A spokesperson for the NT Department of Infrastructure said $86.8 million had been spent on the Victoria Highway since July 2016. “This includes a $10.25 million shoulder widening project, $5.1 million intersection upgrade at the Innesvale Access Road and $5 million for pavement strengthening and widening. “A design tender was released today for pavement strengthening and widening for 8km along Victoria Highway shortly before the Buntine Highway turnoff,” the said “Longer term, the Northern Territory Government is undertaking a planning study to improve flood resilience on the Territory’s National Highway Network.” Western Roads Federation CEO Cam Dumesny supported Mr Thomson’s call for an climate change resilience audit “We need a national freight supply chain for northern Australia and an audit is a good starting point. “We can’t just keep going from year to year like this. We need regional warehouses and common-use cold storage units so small transport companies have a facility they can use.” Mr Dumesny said this could create “buffer stocks” if major roads were out for days or weeks at a time. “We need a plan led and developed by the regions, not out of Canberra.” The Kimberley Echo has contacted the NT Government Department of Infrastructure for comment.