The longest gas pipeline in the world is the PetroChina. The main part of that is around 4,000km (2,500mi) long, BUT passes through 66 cities, and includes 8 branches.
A pipeline from West to East in Australia would be 4,000km long in a perfectly straight line, but have near no branches, and pass through no infrastructure at all for well over 3,500km of it. You're talking areas that are so remote that you need fixed wing aircraft for maintenance because helicopters don't have range, areas that even vehicles will have to carry extended fuel tanks because the nearest fuel supply might be 1,000 miles away, with little to no water supplies.
It could take days or more to get to the pipe for inspection, security would be non-existent.
And all this in a climate that is ... unforgiving. One of the nearby towns to where such a pipeline is situated has the following factoids:
At least one month a year where the mean maximum temperature is 107F.
Holds a record of 160 consecutive days above 100F.
Regularly records 110F+, with record temperatures approaching 120F.
It's highly suspected that the uninhabited areas along that route would exceed those temperatures. Multiple towns in the vicinity have exceeded 120F in the shade on multiple occasions.
The railroad nearby holds the world record for the straightest section of train track: 500mi+ dead straight (though not dead level).
In this case, it wouldn't.
The longest gas pipeline in the world is the PetroChina. The main part of that is around 4,000km (2,500mi) long, BUT passes through 66 cities, and includes 8 branches.
A pipeline from West to East in Australia would be 4,000km long in a perfectly straight line, but have near no branches, and pass through no infrastructure at all for well over 3,500km of it. You're talking areas that are so remote that you need fixed wing aircraft for maintenance because helicopters don't have range, areas that even vehicles will have to carry extended fuel tanks because the nearest fuel supply might be 1,000 miles away, with little to no water supplies.
It could take days or more to get to the pipe for inspection, security would be non-existent.
And all this in a climate that is ... unforgiving. One of the nearby towns to where such a pipeline is situated has the following factoids:
At least one month a year where the mean maximum temperature is 107F.
Holds a record of 160 consecutive days above 100F.
Regularly records 110F+, with record temperatures approaching 120F.
It's highly suspected that the uninhabited areas along that route would exceed those temperatures. Multiple towns in the vicinity have exceeded 120F in the shade on multiple occasions.
The railroad nearby holds the world record for the straightest section of train track: 500mi+ dead straight (though not dead level).
Shipping is the only way to go, really.