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Speaker 1: As we spoke about just a short time ago, we

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Speaker 1: know that Central Australia has indeed been on a lut

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Speaker 1: this week as that slow moving tropical load drenched the region.

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Speaker 1: We just heard from the Minister about the roads, the highways,

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Speaker 1: the rail corridors. And joining us on the line right

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Speaker 1: now is Louise Belato, the executive officer of the Anti

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Speaker 1: Road Transport Association. Good morning, Louise, Good morning Katie, Louise.

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Speaker 1: How are things tracking this morning from your perspective?

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Speaker 2: Not bad? The key road freight routes are open. We've

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Speaker 2: got problems in Queensland between Winton and Kloncurry with our

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Speaker 2: freight operators coming from the East Coast not able to

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Speaker 2: get through, but the Barkley is open and operational, which

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Speaker 2: is a good thing. Obviously. We'll see what happens with

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Speaker 2: the rain as it creeps further into the southeast over

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Speaker 2: the next few days and see if that has any

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Speaker 2: impact on the roads for the transport operators coming into

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Speaker 2: the territory. But no, we're pleased about the Stuart Highway

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Speaker 2: being reopened.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that sounds like it's good news for

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Speaker 1: us in the NT in the sense that you know,

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Speaker 1: the roads are reopened. But as you just touched on,

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Speaker 1: they're a bit of a worry those if some of

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Speaker 1: those parts of Queensland are having difficulties because it may

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Speaker 1: mean that for us getting some of our goods. I

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Speaker 1: would imagine it could be disrupted.

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Speaker 2: Oh definitely, And I mean the frustrating thing there is

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Speaker 2: that those roads go under every year. I think we've

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Speaker 2: seen some big wet seasons and the Berkley you know,

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Speaker 2: being shot a couple of years ago really significantly. But

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Speaker 2: those sections of road in Queensland do need to be

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Speaker 2: on the upgrade list for sure.

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Speaker 1: Oh for sure. But I guess Louise, as you and

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Speaker 1: I probably know, in some of those littler parts there's

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Speaker 1: so important, you know when it comes to transportation of

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Speaker 1: goods and when it comes to Australia being connected, but

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Speaker 1: they're so often sort of forgotten about because they're not

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Speaker 1: as highly populated as our capital cities. Yes, and.

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Speaker 2: My big beef is that especially road infrastructure should be

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Speaker 2: bipartisan in the territory. We had that ten year infrastructure

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Speaker 2: plan and pipeline that Louis McCormick when she was Infrastructure

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Speaker 2: Commissioner updated every year. A lot of consultation around that,

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Speaker 2: and it meant that the Northern Territory could go to

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Speaker 2: the federal government with a very clear line of sight

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Speaker 2: as to what roads needed to be upgraded. And we

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Speaker 2: saw some good money flowing into the territory for those

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Speaker 2: road networks, the arterial ones especially. But we need to

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Speaker 2: keep doing that, Katie, because the freight task isn't reducing.

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Speaker 2: There's not one paper that says that the amount of

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Speaker 2: freight on our road networks is going to go down

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Speaker 2: to twenty fifty. It's predicted to continue to go up

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Speaker 2: and it's almost double from twenty twenty by twenty to fifty.

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Speaker 2: The plan for our road networks being upgraded and to

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Speaker 2: be flood brasilient, that has to be taken seriously and

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Speaker 2: not just forgotten after the wet season is in the background.

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Speaker 1: And so Louise, who needs to get back to the

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Speaker 1: table and sort of make that happen. Is that the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory government in conjunction with the Feds or is

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Speaker 1: it you know, the like sib of you guys with

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Speaker 1: the territory government. Where do we go?

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Speaker 2: Well, it's probably a combination of all of those things.

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Speaker 2: I mean, the Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King has been

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Speaker 2: there for two terms. Well you know, this is her

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Speaker 2: second term now and she does know her stuff, but

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Speaker 2: she is expecting the Northern Territory to put our plans

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Speaker 2: very clearly to them in order to get additional moneies.

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Speaker 2: You know, we saw two hundred million thrown at the

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Speaker 2: Berry Springs to Catherine duplication last year in the last

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Speaker 2: federal budget. And I mean, obviously that's not enough to

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Speaker 2: duplicate the Stuart Highway between Dale and Catherine, but it's

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Speaker 2: a start. And that's what you have to see is

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Speaker 2: those graded processes with a staged management approach and we'll

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Speaker 2: get there. And the section of the Stuart Highway south

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Speaker 2: of Tenant Creek is an obvious one where we need

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Speaker 2: to have a significant federal government injection of funds to

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Speaker 2: assist in Northern Territory to reduce the risk of that

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Speaker 2: section closing. And I mean, that's money we'll spent and

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Speaker 2: it's really important that we do that work.

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Speaker 1: Louise. I also want to ask you. You and I

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Speaker 1: spoke about this, I believe last time you're on the

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Speaker 1: show about the rain radar for the Barkley District. Now

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Speaker 1: We've got an email from a lady called Allison. She's

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Speaker 1: pretty worried about it. Her family obviously live in the area.

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Speaker 1: She said. Not having a radar to assist with logistics, planning,

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Speaker 1: emergency response, or even to know if rain's coming over

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Speaker 1: the hill after having your house flooded is just stressing.

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Speaker 1: I've no doubt that it's causing a lot of issue

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Speaker 1: well for your industry as well. Oh.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely. And I think last time I mentioned that the

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Speaker 2: window radar had been broken for three months, you know,

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Speaker 2: started in October and November, and so you know, when

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Speaker 2: we're trying to have people looking at the large AMOUNTU

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Speaker 2: I mean, the radars don't go that far. But to

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Speaker 2: even get an idea that there's rain falling in other

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Speaker 2: parts of the territory, you had the windom out, You've

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Speaker 2: got nothing Intendant Creek. These radars are not that expensive,

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Speaker 2: and yet they contribute to the quality of the data

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Speaker 2: that the Bureau of Meteorology relies on, and yet they've

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Speaker 2: taken it away. They can spend what was it, ninety

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Speaker 2: four million dollars on a website that's now not reliable.

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Speaker 2: Everyone goes to windy dot com and other apps to

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Speaker 2: try and put the pieces together, and here's our national

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Speaker 2: meteorology experts not being able to deliver the information that

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Speaker 2: that every industry requires, and especially the road transport industry.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Hey, I know, in just a little while, we're

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Speaker 1: actually going to be catching up with the Commissioner of

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Speaker 1: NT Fire and Emergency Services about this new position that's

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Speaker 1: been embedded as well or into into end tests. So

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Speaker 1: essentially they're going to have a meteorologist sets based there

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Speaker 1: to try and help with some of the I guess

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Speaker 1: with some of the more emergency like situations. But I mean,

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Speaker 1: well that do you think that that could be helpful

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Speaker 1: across the board when we do go through these flooding

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Speaker 1: situations and when we do have you know, fires as

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Speaker 1: well at different times the year.

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Speaker 2: Yes, well, I mean hopefully it's better than what we've got.

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Speaker 2: I mean, it's disappointing that he has to move from

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Speaker 2: a you know, a federal entity and to be embedded

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Speaker 2: in the Northern Territory in order for us to get

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Speaker 2: the information that we require. I mean that that just

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Speaker 2: seems ludicrous that that's that's necessary. But obviously, if if

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Speaker 2: that's skill set is now able to be replicated in

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Speaker 2: the territory. But if he's relying on the Bureau of

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Speaker 2: Meteorology for the information that he's going to be pulling

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Speaker 2: together for emergency services, what's the difference. I meant, that's

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Speaker 2: our concern. It's the access to the data sources. And

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Speaker 2: what was their rationale foreclosing ten in Creek Financial? I mean,

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Speaker 2: I just think that's but the consequences of these sighting

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Speaker 2: events or when roads are closed without notice on lives

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Speaker 2: and livelihoods, that makes whatever the cost is trivial, it's irrelevant.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and Louis, what do you know of that, like

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Speaker 1: in terms of the history of it, Because somebody had

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Speaker 1: just messaged through and said, Katie, the rain radar was

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Speaker 1: promised by the term Bull government. They take quite a

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Speaker 1: number of years to build with the software, etc. And

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Speaker 1: when we'd ask the Minister or the Treasurer, the Minister

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Speaker 1: for Infrastructure, of Planning and logistic as well Bill Yann

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Speaker 1: out of a short time ago, he had said that,

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Speaker 1: you know, his understanding is that work is underway. I

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Speaker 1: guess I just can't sort of wrap my head around

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Speaker 1: why it's taking so long, and then why others are closing.

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Speaker 2: Katie a good example of how things can happen. Is

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Speaker 2: remember during COVID when all the university said that it

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Speaker 2: would take three years to put their subjects online and

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Speaker 2: COVID hit and universities like the University of Queensland stood

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Speaker 2: up courses in three weeks. That's what I told you

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Speaker 2: is what's a priority here, And you know, is that

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Speaker 2: bureaucracy gone mad or just people not taking things seriously

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Speaker 2: enough to actually get the job done.

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Speaker 1: Very good point, Luise Belato. Thank you as always for

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Speaker 1: your time. It's wonderful to talk to you this morning. Hey,

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Speaker 1: A big shout out as well to everybody out on

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Speaker 1: the roads. Nobody's stuck on the side of the road

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Speaker 1: or anything like that in the Northern Territory the moment.

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Speaker 2: No, but I mean I definitely wanted to acknowledge our

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Speaker 2: truckies who pivoted as soon as the rail went down again.

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Speaker 2: You know, times of crisis, truckies stand up without any

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Speaker 2: fan fare. They just get the job done and so

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Speaker 2: that freight is moving into town because our road transport

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Speaker 2: industry gets the job done.

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Speaker 1: Good on them and making sure we've all got everything

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Speaker 1: we need as well the wise, So a big shout

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Speaker 1: out to them, I know, We've got lots of truckies

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Speaker 1: that listen to the show, so thank you so very

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Speaker 1: much for having a chat with us this morning.

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Speaker 2: Thank you Katie, thank you