18 March 2025. Chris Punzell, AgForce Cane President.
The Cane Industry is reeling after the havoc wielded by the devastating floods through North Queensland in February.
The scale of this disaster continues to be underestimated by authorities - so much so that the industry is now united to stand together and ask for support so that we can “BUILD BACK BETTER”.
Industry’s conservative estimates show that a minimum of five million dollars is urgently needed to repair vital supporting cane rail infrastructure, if cane farmers are going to have their sugar crush this season.
The Australian Sugar Milling Council (ASMC) is recommending government use this ‘BUILD BACK BETTER’ agenda so we can properly rebuild parts of the vital cane rail network, which was largely destroyed by the floods, especially in Ingham region.
Millions of dollars is needed to restore these crucial rail signal systems and ensure they are flood-proofed to get us through the next disaster. These rail signals at level crossings are critical chock points for the road and rail network.
The Cane Industry one of Australia’s top ten agricultural market exporters, and as such deserves support in its time of crisis. No-one realised how catastrophic these floods would continue to be weeks after the event, particularly in areas such as Ingham where reliable power and groceries are still in short supply.
The growth of sugarcane production is in the nations interest, as is our infrastructure and supply chain network, which is integral to our sovereign capabilities.
The destruction is extensive. AgForce member latest feedback show that around 75% of all sugarcane rail track infrastructure has been damaged, or destroyed or required urgent attention, following these disastrous North Queensland floods.
The bridge infrastructure assets have not yet been fully assessed, and if there is substantial damage there as well, this will severely impact the coming season and add significant cost to our sector. If there is as much substantial damage as we suspect, there won’t be much change from $20 million for the repair bill for each bridge.
Mills are working hard to build back to a minimum viable level, so that we have a network for the crush that will soon be upon us in June. We are pouring whatever resources we have to try to get things up and running in that short period of time.
But without the network, mills aren’t set up to take large quantities of cane by road, and frankly the roads couldn’t handle the volume of cane coming in anyway.
Most rail signal infrastructure has been submerged. It only takes one safety incident or signal failure to potentially shut down large parts of the network, and also put road users at unacceptable risk.
While five million dollars may seem like a lot, in these circumstances it is a modest ask for a hard-hit industry. The risk of something going wrong with the cane rail network puts large parts of the crush in jeopardy.
The industry has been campaigning for a shorter crushing season, for many years now, so at AgForce we believe in the ‘build back better’ campaign.
AgForce is united with cane farmers and industry groups, as we call for state and federal government support that would generate confidence for millers, cane farmers, farmer collectives and primary industries to remain in business into the future, thereby building up local regional communities. The ripple effects of this investment would continue for decades and ensure future generations stay in cane farming.
We ask you to also support our call to `BUILD BACK BETTER’, rather than accept a band-aid approach for this unprecedented damage.