My son works in an industry which would have an involvement in this if it happened.
He's been watching it closely over the last couple of years.
If I remember correctly from what he told me, one of the parties interested in building this is Chinese.
Both this project and the proposed new interstate highway are interesting if you look at how the railway companies made money out of building east-west rail lines in the USA. Because they all include the rights to a wide swathe of land either side of the infrastructure.
We need to know more about this.
But I agree with Mick. Australia's population doesn't justify it.