I've gone off on a tangent daydreaming about this for the last few days, and I have to reluctantly agree with the others that we cant afford it.
And we certainly cant afford to expand the project like I would like to do, not if we employ existing ideas and means to build it.

But this doesn't mean that I think we shouldn't do it.
This in fact is more reasons why I think we should and bring the nation together.

Why is it that only world wars garner a team effort and commraderie within a nation?
I want that determination without blood being spilled.
In some ways we really are at war already.

I think we should embark on the greatest infrastructure project the country has ever known and build a 6-lane national highway with 4 high speed rail lines connecting all our nations capital cities from Darwin, Townsville, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and across to Perth.

We also connect power, internet, water oil and gas lines and we move water between dams when we need to.

The fact we can't afford it is steering up away from the inevitable truth.
Our nation is slowly dying and soon all we will be are tenants in this country when it has been completely bought by foreigners.
China's population will continue to increase until it stabilises around 2050 and India's population will grow right through until the end of the century.

We need to take this problem seriously, we can't afford not to.

So we have to figure out HOW we can bend the rules and pull out all stops as a nation to make it happen.

I like the idea of closing the road down once a year for a F1 / V8 / Prestige cars Cannonball Run.
Racing across the Nullabor to the finishing line.
I think this could be one way we could get money back, we need to look at every single way possible.
We NEED to do it, failure to do so should really not be considered an option.

Of course, when we talk so easily about 'a high-seed train', we mean many, many trains on each route, every hour or so, otherwise everybody would have to pile on the once-every-four-or-six-hours-train. Each way.

Indulging the inner megalomaniac, I suggest at first relatively short runs for high-speed trains, say from Katoomba-Parramatta, Hornsby-Wahroonga, Camden/Campbelltown-Parramatta; Toowoomba-Wacol, Sippie Downs-Kedron; Adelaide- ...., well not just yet; Ballarat-Sunshine, Kilmore-Tullamarine, Nar Nar Goon-Dandenong; Mandurah-Canning Vale.

On the other hand, if money was no object, we could build a high-speed freight network right around the interior of Australia: Charters Towers-Mt Isa-Katherine-Broome-Hedland-Northam-Port Augusta-Swan Hill-Dubbo-Roma-Charters Towers. Piece of cake !

All solar-powered of course.

Ah the fantasy of power ! That felt good !

Joe.