ABC News (AU)
· collected 2026-10-11 · by Tom Mann and Isabella Kelly
The Birdsville Track has been closed for 400 days over the past two years due to rain damage, impacting businesses along its route between Birdsville and Marree. The track's closure has severely affected local roadhouses and hotels; one business reports being open only a third of its usual time, while another was entirely shut down last year due to water delivery issues caused by the closure. While part of the track is expected to reopen next week, northern sections may remain closed for several more months as floodwaters recede and materials are gathered for repairs.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-11,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
The Birdsville Track, an iconic outback road in Australia connecting Birdsville (south-west Queensland) to Marree (far-north South Australia), has been closed for 400 days over the past two years due to rain damage. This closure, unprecedented in length, significantly impacts local businesses and tourism. The track, stretching more than 500 kilometres, is a vital route for cattle movement and outback tourism. While some parts of the track are expected to reopen next week, northern sections may remain closed for many months, affecting remote communities like Marree, where business revenues have dropped by about one third compared to normal levels.
Written for “Birdsville Track Closure Impact” on 2026-10-11,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 72744 · logged 2026-10-11
In short:
The Birdsville Track has been closed for 400 days of the past two years.
asserted
Track → close → years
The track is a major freight and tourism route cutting through outback South Australia and Queensland.
asserted
track → cut → Australia
Part of the track is expected to reopen next week, while northern sections could remain closed for many months.
uncertain
sections → expect → months
One of Australia's most iconic outback roads has been closed for 400 days out of the past two years due to rain damage, with remote businesses feeling the pinch.
asserted
businesses → close → pinch
Stretching more than 500 kilometres, the Birdsville Track connects Birdsville in south-west Queensland, to Marree in far-north South Australia.
asserted
Track → stretch → Australia
It provides access to local pastoral properties to move cattle, allows stock to flow to the South Australian market and has become increasingly popular with outback tourists.
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stock → provide → tourists
The track is largely unsealed, meaning flooding and heavy rain have periodically closed the track over the years — but never for this long.
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flooding → mean → long
Marree Roadhouse owner Lyall Oldfield said his business was "probably one third of what it normally is".
asserted
it → say → ?
"My family [has] been here since 1934 and it's never ever happened that the Birdsville Track has been closed any longer than a month,"he said.
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Track → happen → month,"he
"It's just dreadful what's happening with the roads.
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what → happen → roads
"
Bad for business
About 230km north of Marree is the Mungerannie Hotel, which was taken over by new owners in 2023.
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which → take → 2023
Three years later, the business has not opened all year, with road closures stopping the daily water deliveries it relies on.
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it → open → deliveries
Co-owner Andrew Norman said it was a similar tale in 2025, when there was "no sort of season whatsoever".
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it → say → season
"Last year we thought it was devastating, but we didn't know this year was coming,"he said.
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year → think → ?
Mr Norman said the closure north of Mungeranie is having the biggest impact, deterring tourists from making the trip.
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closure → say → trip
"Nobody's really coming up to Mungeranie to turn around and go back," Mr Norman said.
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Norman → come → Mungeranie
"If they can get that road open just north of us and get the Birdsville Track open, next year should be fine.
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year → get → us
The SA Department for Infrastructure and Transport hoped to reopen the 200km section between Marree and Mungeranie "next week", but the route north of Mungeranie is expected to remain closed for some time.
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route → hop → time
Regional north and outback road maintenance manager Juanita Chester said with some northern parts of the Birdsville Track still underwater, it would be "several more months before [the department] can even consider reopening".
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department → say → Track
"When you're thinking of over a kilometre of road that is underwater, there's a significant amount of material that we'd have to cart in to put on that road to build it up enough to allow traffic to go through,"she said.
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traffic → think → it
While the construction of a single-lane access route has been considered, Ms Chester said the local pits where materials are sourced have flooded too.
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materials → consider → route
"They're like a dam when it rains, they fill with water," she said.
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she → rain → water
"If we can't get in there to get material, there's very little we can do short of carting material from a long, long way away, which then impacts the roads."
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which → get → roads
The department is assessing the scope and price of the remaining work, which will then require approval before it can begin, and Ms Chester said this would be unlikely in the next two months.
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this → assess → months
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