Don't worry too much about the cost. The CSIRO's prediction of $8 a litre
by the end of the decade might not be spot on but it will be between
$6 and $12 a litre.
This will enforce a redesign of our transport links.
Hasbeen, all those problems you cite re your tractor are fast becoming
history. Automatic transfer stations between trucks and rail flat cars
overcome what you experienced. I believe there is one in Brisbane.

Intermodel depots in Sydney, say two or three and then trucks pick up
their containers and deliver locally. From what I have read the time
for the transfer is less than one minute.
The truck parks next to the flat car and the machine lefts the load
across.
Anyway there is no choice, we either do it or we do not have other than local freight.

I think it is too late to afford a Very Fast Train (VFT) with our
population and distances. The alternative is a "Fast Enough Train".
Rail track reconstruction to UK standards would give us high speed
passenger and freight and cut costs significantly.

Regarding parcel and less than one container shipments a little delving
into the past might be useful.
Remember when every rail station had a parcels office ?
Remember the electric parcel vans that used to roam around the suburban
rail network ?
That worked and in these days of parcel tracking etc would be very
effective. A company with parcels to deliver, or the local post office
would deliver to & from the railway station parcels office in their electric
van, when delivered at the destination station, be it in the country
or city, it could be picked up or delivered by a courier with an
electric van such as the Renault Kangoo electric van.

With the electrification of mainline railways the cost of fuel and
even its availability would no longer be a problem.
Express parcel trains or vans could be run all over the rail network.
Further food could be delivered in this way for supermarkets by
half or 1/4 size containers to be picked by supermarkets at the
freight office.

More to the point, it is coming ready or not.

Individual,

You haven't yet said what you mean by a monorail?

Do you mean a system that uses a single rail and has wheels in a single line with each other or do you mean, as in the Sydney 'monorail' an elevated narrow gauge train with additional retaining/guide wheels?
The monorail in Sydney was not a public passenger carrier but was licenced as an amusement ride as it could not meet the standards required of a passenger carrier.

Monorail construction in most of Australia would be prohibitive and probably cost more than conventional rail.

onorail construction in most of Australia would be prohibitive and probably cost more than conventional rail.
is Mise,
Only if you engage australian engineers & consultants. Use competent engineers from overseas but use australian workers & manufacturing & it wouldn't be a problem at all.
Just because some tourist fad in Sydney wasn't up to scratch doesn't equate into a Mono Rail not being a viable option. I guarantee you that a Mono rail would be the best thing since sliced bread for Australia. Ask anyone not educated here.

You still haven't said what your idea of a monorail is; do you mean a real monorail or a tracked vehicle using guide wheels instead of flanged wheels?

The largest 'monorail' in the world is but 72 km long and there are no freight monorails because, wait for it, switching is a big problem. On ground level tracks points (switches) can be complex whereas monorail points can only serve one purpose.
The very latest monorail is that in Mumbai and that only has 8.9 km operational; I'm looking forward to a ride on it next trip to India, it terminates at Chembur where my wife's aunt and her family live so I've got an excuse to have a ride.
http://static.indianexpress.com/m-images/Fri%20Jan%2031%202014,%2000:35%20hrs/M_Id_458919_Mumbai_monorail.jpg
This is getting closer to a true monorail but it still needs wheels in three planes to work.

This is getting closer to a true monorail but it still needs wheels in three planes to work.
is Mise,
Mono means one as in 1. As for rail you can have two rails or one so, a monorail would mean one rail if I'm not mistaken.
I'm certain that once some engineers from say Germany or the States put their ideas together they could come up with something that shouldn't be too hard for Australians to copy, especially if the use migrant labour.