Bedourie's Simpson Desert Oasis scales back groceries due to power, freight costs

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a day ago

The only grocery shop for hundreds of kilometres in far western Queensland is scaling back due to the "astronomical" cost of supplying produce.
The Simpson Desert Oasis lives up to its name. It is a motel, caravan park, roadhouse, restaurant and grocery shop wrapped into one business in the outback town of Bedourie.
In the town of 150 people, Robbie Dare has worn many hats.
He has run the Oasis for 37 years, was the race club president and the mayor of the local Diamantina Shire for 12 years.
While other sections of the business remain open, Mr Dare has had to stop supplying most fresh produce and frozen goods because the cost of electricity, freight and fuel had made it unsustainable.
"The old bushie in me thinks we can live without it, but a lot of people need it … fruit, fresh milk, ice cream, things like lettuce," he said.
"Raspberries, grapes, strawberries, cherries, anything with a short date will have to go."
Mr Dare said they would keep supplying canned and dry goods, frozen meat and long-lasting produce like potatoes and onions, as well as anything they needed to keep the roadhouse kitchen open.
The weekly shop has become much harder for Bedourie residents.
Resident Kevin Barr said the grocery shop's partial closure had hit the town hard.
He remembered in the 70s when the only food outlet in Bedourie was a "tin shed behind the hotel with no fresh veggies or bread".
"To be able to drive down here and walk into a shop and get what you can get out of a normal supermarket in the cities is unbelievable," Mr Barr said.
Without the Oasis, Mr Barr said he would have to make the 236-kilometre drive to Boulia for groceries.
The other option is to order online from Townsville supermarkets, 1,200km away, then wait for the fortnightly truck to arrive in Bedourie.
Mr Dare said online delivery had also impacted on his business, with cheaper groceries swaying residents away from his brick-and-mortar shop.
"It's just common sense — if you can buy a product somewhere else for less, you will."
Electricity, freight and fuel are the three "real killers" when it comes to running a shop in the bush.
Mr Dare said they had been losing money for a while due to the growing overheads.
Bedourie can be cut off by road for months at a time during the wet season, so the Oasis runs about 19 freezers to last residents during the period of isolation.
By cutting frozen goods and fresh produce, he said he can could turn off half of the freezers to save on electricity.
Last summer, the power bill for the Oasis reached $9,800 a month.
Mr Dare said because the business used more than 100 megawatts-hours of electricity a year, it was classified as a "large customer" by the energy provider and had to pay higher tariffs and service fees.
Then there is the cost of freight.
For a punnet of strawberries to land in the Oasis, it first needs to be trucked 1,500km from Brisbane.
The cost varies depending on the product, but Mr Dare said the freight bill came to about $700 per tonne.
He said businesses in the bush were crying out for increased freight subsidies.
Queensland's vast and complex trucking network means many outback towns receive road or rail freight subsidies from the state government to keep costs down.
However, Bedourie receives neither.
A spokesperson for the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) said the department acknowledged "the challenges faced by communities such as Diamantina and recognises the importance of affordable and reliable freight services".
"TMR is exploring options to enhance freight-subsidy initiatives and assess how subsidised freight services can continue to best support Queensland communities most in need," the spokesperson said.
While Member for Gregory Sean Dillon stopped short of pledging to bring a freight subsidy to Bedourie, he said the Crisafulli government was looking at equitable solutions that "don't rob Peter to pay Paul".
"At the moment I think the best fit for Bedourie is better road access and better actual support for the trucking industry," Mr Dillon said.
"For people in that region to maintain their liveability, they'll need certainty from the government and that's what we intend to provide."