Australia's irrigation and canal proposals

Were there plans for canals to move goods within Australia?

Yes, but transport was usually secondary to ambitious irrigation and water-transfer proposals.

An initial answer points to Sydney and Melbourne's harbours and Brisbane's river as reasons a freight canal network might be less useful. The later answer identifies the Bradfield Scheme as an example in which moving goods would have been a secondary benefit of irrigation. It names the Herbert and Burdekin rivers, with the Tully recalled less confidently, as water sources in the proposal being described. Canals would form part of a much larger lake and irrigated area. The Logan Northern Australia Water Scheme is offered as another water-transfer proposal. These examples concern the transport possibilities within water schemes, rather than a dedicated national freight-canal network.