Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Moreton for this motion. He knows that the growth of this country is in the regions, which is why he put this motion forward. The fact is that he is a great supporter of the regions. And we're fortunate in federal Labor that we've got a prime minister who not only understands the regions but understands infrastructure. That's why we saw such investments as we did, including in my electorate and in the Northern Territory, in this budget. The Prime Minister knows, as does the member for Moreton, that there has been a shift to our regions from capital cities during COVID. Lots of Australians are realising that outside of Sydney and Melbourne, and perhaps Brisbane, there's a great life to be had—it's a balance of work and lifestyle. There are many benefits to living in the regions. More than that, if we're going to have sustainable economic growth into the future, that cannot happen without enabling infrastructure for our regions.

There is a massive and untapped potential in our country, including in my electorate and the member for Lingiari's electorate in the Northern Territory. That's why in this recent budget there was a massive $2.5 billion—that's 'billion' a 'b'—investment into this enabling infrastructure in the Northern Territory, $1.5 billion of which is going to the Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct, which I will reflect on a bit.

This development at Middle Arm is a centrepiece for the Northern Territory moving towards a more sustainable economy into the future—in fact, moving towards a $40 billion economy, but sustainable. The Northern Territory has abundant natural solar resources—we've got plenty of sun—but also critical minerals. We'll need those minerals to build the batteries and the solar panels as we work as a nation, as part of a concerted global commitment, towards a clean-energy economy. At Middle Arm, we're going to build a renewable energy hub. Honourable members would have heard about Sun Cable. It's going to be the largest solar project in the world and will be part of the Middle Arm development. Green hydrogen and ammonia, which, of course, are the foundations for cleaner fuel and a sustainable future feeding the planet, will also be manufactured there. We're also going to have a data storage centre at the Middle Arm precinct, powered by solar power, which will serve global markets. It's not, as some have misleadingly claimed, a petrochemicals hub. As the Chief Minister, Natasha Fyles, said, as recently as the weekend, 'It is not a petrochemical plant.' For Territorians who might just be starting to hear about this project, it's identifying that we need that balance between our harbour and our environment, but we also need to have industry. Rather than having eight or 10 projects that in isolation might seem okay, but then you get to the end of it and go, 'Hang on, they're scattered throughout our harbour,' as a single, collective project this is co-located. We're doing a whole assessment of that Middle Arm project, but each project will go through the appropriate checks and balances individually as well. It's about shared resources and enabling infrastructure, which is what this Commonwealth government investment is all about. The Chief Minister went on to say that the Territory's rigorous environmental rules would also ensure the environment was covered as the project went ahead. She said:

It's really important for Territorians to understand we've got some of the most vigorous environmental protections and community impact legislation that we've worked through and this will go through every assessment

That's the NT Chief Minister. She is, as I am, deeply committed to the environmental health of our Darwin Harbour; we're absolutely committed to that. (Time expired)

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