Call for new link to the west

Expansion of our roads and railway network is a subject that reappears with the seasons. It was taken for granted by early European planners that this vast continent needed to be joined by a network of roads and rail.
Since the Seventies though, railways especially have come in for considerable 'rationalisation' which has seen many country services scrapped and the lines uprooted or allowed to fall into disrepair.
Roads have fared a little better with on-going upgrading of our national highways in order to keep up with ever heavier loads and usage. It is new road construction, especially in remote areas that has missed out.
A proposal to link the east and west coasts via: Perth, Kalgoorlie, Laverton, Warburton, Alice Springs, Winton and on to Brisbane has been floated recently. This would involve 2500 Km of road construction.
Gavin Carpenter, Tennant's newsagent, auctioneer and man of ideas, thinks he has a more realistic plan. He wants to link Warrego with Lajamanu in Western Australia, leading then to the Buchanan Highway and so to the west coast. (see map)
This would give the Top End an east-west link via Tennant Creek. The beauty of the scheme according to Gavin is that only 450 Km of road construction is required.
It would be good for Tennant's businesses too.