Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is an exciting time to be a north Australian. Last week I proudly stood beside the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister Robb, Minister Joyce and a number of my colleagues—and you, Deputy Speaker Scott. How could I forget? We were all standing together while the Prime Minister launched the white paper on north Australian development.

Since Federation, there has been a lot of talk about developing north Australia. There has been lots of talk about grand schemes, some practical schemes and some less so. But when all was said and done—and there has been a lot more said than done—I am really proud to be part of the coalition government which is going to be the government that actually turns these ideas into infrastructure, into industry and into jobs for the people of north Australia.

Up north we have approximately one million people spread across three million square kilometres. This means that there is a lot of potential. There is a lot of room to grow: room to grow our population, room to grow our industries and room to grow food for Australia and the emerging markets in South-East Asia. There are also challenges, such as: how do we support these growing industries with the infrastructure they need? How do we get their products into the markets? How do we make sure that north Australian people have access to the same opportunities as southerners? For the first time in Australia's history, a government has met these challenges head-on and come up with a road map to really develop north Australia.

But the process does not end with the plan. The process of developing the North will be a long one. It will span decades. But the wheels are now well and truly in motion. Between the white paper and the 2015-16 federal budget, more than $6 billion has been set aside for major nation-building infrastructure across north Australia. From the budget there is $5 billion in concessional loans for major infrastructure projects and $100 million to upgrade beef roads across north Australia. As part of the white paper process there will be additional investments, including $600 million in road investment across northern Australia to upgrade regional routes like the Arnhem Highway, the Barkley Highway and Tanami Road, with Indigenous employment targets on all projects funded through this initiative.

There is going to be $200 million for water infrastructure across northern Australia and $110 million towards finalising all native title claims within a decade. There is    $75 million for a cooperative research centre in the north to investigate climate, soils, agriculture and biosecurity, with a strong focus on increasing agricultural productivity. There is $20.4 million to better support native title holders engaging with investors. There is $10.6 million to support innovative land tenure arrangements, $5 million towards investigating the feasibility of a rail link between Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory and Mount Isa in Queensland. There is simplification of land tenure arrangements so Indigenous land owners can use their land as they see fit.

I am delighted that there is going to be a 'one stop shop' for major investment approvals to be established in Darwin. There are streamlined visa processes to attract tourists from China and India, and there is going to be a major international conference held in Darwin in November, and this is going to be attracting a lot of overseas investors—something I am really, really pleased about.

Mr Deputy Speaker, you can see that I am excited, and I know that you are excited too about the opportunities that are facing north Australia. Parliamentary Secretary McCormack, you should be excited because if the north is doing well it means the rest of Australia is going to do well. Once again, all the wealth in north Australia is going to be shared amongst everybody in the rest of Australia. Parliamentary Secretary McCormack, could I just put on the record my thanks to you for expediting some defence spending—which I was going to speak about but I have run out of time. Thanks again for your support to my electorate.