
Budget funds ambitious regional freight project
DEPUTY Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has lived up to his forecast of “something big” on the $10 billion inland rail project in this year’s federal budget. But what is the inland rail, and what does it mean for regional Australians? The project was first considered by parliament in 1902, and the ambitious project has bubbled away on the back burner ever since. For the first time, it will link the east coast’s major ports and freight hubs, running from Melbourne to Brisbane via