George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move the motion relating to Urannah Dam:

That this House:

(1) congratulates the Government on its support of development in north and central Queensland with its White Paper on Developing Northern Australia;

(2) acknowledges the contribution of the Government to:

(a) water infrastructure in north Australia through its $500 million National Water Infrastructure Development Fund; and

(b) key infrastructure in north Australia through its $5 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility;

(3) congratulates the Government on its support of water projects throughout northern Australia including Nullinga Dam and the development of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme;

(4) calls on the Government to support the construction of the Urannah Dam;

(5) notes that the:

(a) damming of Urannah Creek in the Whitsunday region would open up 30,000 hectares of new agricultural land;

(b) new agricultural land will have the potential to triple the current cane production industry in the region and double the size of other agricultural production; and

(c) Urannah Dam will develop water sources and power supplies to service the growing mining and agricultural industries in the Whitsunday region;

(6) further notes that the:

(a) development of the project has the potential to double the current agriculture workforce in the region;

(b) dam has the capacity to generate $323 million over 25 years; and

(c) development of industry in the region will help to repopulate the Collinsville community; and

(7) calls for the support of federal, state and local governments in providing supportive policy in order to aid the progress of the Urannah Dam especially in allowing private investment in the project.

We have spent many decades in this country speaking about the promise of northern Australia: vast tracks of land, enormous coastlines and more water than we know what to do with. Like that great gold deposit, or reef, that Harold Lasseter announced in 1929, the promises of riches from the north have not been delivered. Like Lasseter's Reef, doubts have increased over time. When people talk about northern development, north Australians are quick to say, 'Well, we've heard it all before and nothing ever happens.'

But right now, I have got to say, North Queenslander's in particular are very excited about the genuine commitment from the Liberal National government: the white paper, the overall policy direction and the fact that now substantial dollars are on the table. I am going to say, due credit goes to the member for Warringah, the former Prime Minister, for seizing the opportunity and being the Leader of Government to come up with, not just a concrete plan and political will to develop the north, but putting those dollars on the table. The $5 billion fund for concessional loans to develop infrastructure in the north demonstrates that this government means business. I congratulate the Prime Minister for taking that plan further, for appointing a dedicated minister for northern Australia. In fact, that minister, the Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia, was in my electorate just recently. He went for a tour of the north and I can tell you he is thoroughly dedicated to ensuring that the northern Australia white paper is realised on the ground.

There are a number of things the government can do in order to enable development and growth in northern Australia, principally through providing or facilitating investment in key areas that is going to enable growth. I talk about road transport, rail transport, ports, communications, energy and water. I am particularly excited about the opportunities for water infrastructure that were announced in the white paper and in the further agricultural competitiveness white paper that the agriculture minister announced. There is $500 million that has been set aside in a National Water Infrastructure Development Fund, $200 million of which is specifically for northern Australia. That is because the north provides the biggest opportunity for water infrastructure. We have the largest amount of rainfall across the nation, reliability of rainfall and we have wet and dry seasons, of course. But, substantially, the rainfall is just simply lost and runs out to sea. If we could capture some of that rainfall in major projects, we could revitalise and develop the north.

One specific project I want to talk about is Urannah Dam. It is just outside my electorate, actually in the electorate of Capricornia. I will note that the member for Capricornia is going to speak on this soon. It is a project that has been talked about since the fifties and sixties. Again, people do roll their eyes when they hear about it, sadly, because it has been talked about for so long. But now is the time. We have the Liberal National coalition governments stumping up, not just words but actual policy frameworks and funding. We have got the funding there to do this.

I want to just say what Urannah Dam will deliver. Urannah Dam, if built, would actually capture that much water it would open up a 30,000 hectare area of agricultural land to the south of Collinsville, well suited to irrigation farming, and it would make a contribution. This was identified back in 2001 in a study into the development of Urannah Dam. An agro-economic assessment identified a net present value for the project of $323.2 million over 25 years from the agriculture industry associated with the Urannah Dam alone. It does not include the potential development that we would get from industrial mining and power generation. It would create 6,000 jobs during its construction. Beyond that construction phase, as I said, the new agriculture sector will open up ongoing job opportunities. There is potential for food-processing jobs to be created, port development and the jobs that would be created there. Sadly, we have had the extreme Greens and the Mackay Conservation Group attacking this project before it has even seen the light of day. They say that it makes no sense to build this dam when there is water available, but the water will enable new agriculture areas to grow. Bowen Collinsville Enterprise, a local group, are doing their own prefeasibility study, which they are going to deliver to me this month to hand on to the agriculture minister and the northern Australia minister. I look forward to that, because this is a great opportunity for developing the north.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER (11:51): Is there a seconder for the motion?

Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Mark Butler (Port Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ordinarily, the opposition would be represented in this debate initiated by the member for Dawson by the member for Brand or the member for Lingiari, both of whom are in Darwin today at the Northern Australia Investment Forum, talking about Labor's commitment to northern Australia, so I am happy to sub in for them. Northern Australia obviously has different challenges and different opportunities to the rest of the country. Cairns has more in common with Broome than it does with Brisbane, and Broome has more in common with Cairns than it does with Perth.

It is encouraging indeed that the federal government is focusing on northern Australia's potential, and Labor looks forward to working with the government to achieve this. Labor in government established the focus on northern Australia by creating the Office of Northern Australia and the Northern Australia Ministerial Forum. It is positive that the government is continuing with similar governance arrangements.

The white paper on developing northern Australia deserves serious attention. It is, however, a little light in detail. Many initiatives are subject to further consultation, planning or review, so there is much work to do to translate big expectations into concrete, deliverable outcomes.

The government has built up expectations around its northern Australia policies, particularly the $5 billion northern infrastructure loan facility, to which the member for Dawson referred. But the government has not yet followed through with its announcements. We still have no information on how loans will be prioritised and what the money will be spent on. The government promised that the project proposals for its loan facility would be accepted from 1 July 2015. We are now well into November, and the government has not even released eligibility criteria defining the types of infrastructure that will be supported or the financial criteria that projects need to meet. The government needs to stop this uncertainty and finalise the loan eligibility criteria forthwith.

Native title and land rights are important property rights which provide valuable economic opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Labor welcomes investment in the improvement of native title processes to accelerate the resolution of outstanding native title claims. These processes must be progressed with the full engagement, involvement and agreement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Reforms to native title bodies and processes must not circumvent or undermine land rights legislation.

A focus on improved policy process is critical, including guarantees that robust cost-benefit analysis processes will be followed for every investment project. So much of northern development will always depend on sustainable water supply and access. The Rudd government in 2007 convened a Northern Australia Land and Water Taskforce, which examined the long-term strategic potential for land and water development, with particular emphasis on the capacity of the northern Australian area's agricultural development.

The Martin and Henderson Northern Territory Labor governments were part of that process and had, as a critical objective, set up strategic Indigenous reserves, or SIRs. SIRs aimed to allow Aboriginal traditional owners to have perpetual, exclusive and inalienable rights to a share of water from aquifers, rivers and creeks. The idea was that that water could be used by Aboriginal people for economic or environmental activity that would generate prosperity for their communities. The policy was developed by the Indigenous Water Policy Group and driven by the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance, or NAILSMA.

The election of the Mills and then Giles CLP government in 2012 unfortunately changed everything. Immediately after the election, the CLP government tore up the SIRs, denying Aboriginal people the opportunity to participate in their own economic future and development. The same CLP government then handed out huge allocations of water to other, non-Indigenous, interests.

At present the Northern Land Council is negotiating on behalf of traditional owners of those lands planned for Ord stage 3 in the extreme north-west of the NT abutting the Western Australian border. Ord stage 2 was negotiated in such a way that the traditional owners' interest, native title, was extinguished in exchange for $57 million and some training dollars as well. We know of the enormous social dislocation caused by stages 1 and 2 for Aboriginal people. Any visit to Kununurra will show that. Now the Northern Territory government, no doubt with the support of this federal Liberal government, is also seeking to extinguish native title for the owners of the Knox Plain and Keep River areas of the NT.

Wouldn't it be better for Aboriginal people to be at the table right from the start of these grand ideas? It can be done and it must be done, or northern development will remain a pipedream for Aboriginal people, and attempts to develop their lands will be rife with acrimony and dissent.

Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

First, I would just like to correct the previous member. The minister is actually announcing the criteria on the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility today, where the member's colleagues are, up in Darwin.

I would like to thank my colleague the member for Dawson for putting up this private member's motion today. It allows us to reflect on our government's push to develop northern Australia and to reflect on key water projects that should be considered in this process. In terms of economic potential, northern Australia is really our nation's next pioneer frontier. Our North has enormous untapped potential, but it needs an injection of infrastructure and investment. The official appointment of a new minister for northern Australia—the Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia—is proof that our government is serious about the long-term economic value that this part of Australia has to offer. Recently, I was delighted to host a visit by the minister to Rockhampton.

Today, I too join the member for Dawson in congratulating the coalition government on its support of development in north and central Queensland with the white paper on developing northern Australia. This paper, combined with our government's white paper on agricultural competitiveness, endorses the need for water infrastructure in northern Australia through a $500 million National Water Infrastructure Development Fund. In addition, there is a $5 billion northern Australia infrastructure loans facility to allow major investors to access funds to build new projects.

But the development of our North hinges on a commodity that none of us can do without, and that is water. My electorate of Capricornia begins at the city of Rockhampton and takes in a vast area to Mackay and inland Queensland and as far north as Collinsville. There are three key water infrastructure projects that I would like to see developed there in the coming years under the push to develop northern Australia: the Eden Bann and Rookwood weirs, near Rockhampton; Connors River Dam, near Sarina and Moranbah; and the Urannah Dam, near Mackay. Raising the wall at Eden Bann Weir, near Rockhampton, and building a new weir at Rookwood would open up a new agricultural corridor on the Fitzroy River, the second largest catchment area of its type in Australia. I continue to push for these projects to get federal backing.

Eventually, we also need to proceed with Connors River Dam in the Isaac regional shire. This project is shovel-ready. Right now this project has been put on hold due to the coal-mining downturn, as it requires mining investors to support its construction financially.

Another significant project that needs to be funded in the push to develop Northern Australia is the Urannah Dam, 60 kilometres south-west of Proserpine. According to regional economic group, Bowen Collinsville Enterprise, or BCE, the Urannah Dam could be used for organic horticulture and organic sugar production, as well as for coal mining in the Bowen Basin and to supply electricity for the town of Collinsville. Collinsville has been hit by the local coal downturn and needs a boost. BCE is adamant that Urannah would give Collinsville a new lease of life by offering new irrigation industries and employment opportunities.

I join the member for Dawson in calling on the government to support the construction of the Urannah Dam under the Northern Australia process. Such a dam would open up new agricultural land, with the potential to triple the current cane production industry in the region and double the size of other agricultural production. And, importantly, it has the potential to double the current agriculture workforce in the region. It is estimated that the dam has the capacity to generate $323 million over 25 years and, as I said, would help to repopulate the Collinsville community and give a major boost to business in the area.

Of course, this project requires the support of federal, state and local governments, especially in allowing private investment to be part of the project. I have been to Collinsville—it is in the far north of my electorate—and have spoken to local people and local business owners. And I have been to meetings about the Urannah Dam. The community is adamant that the development of Urannah Dam and a power station at Collinsville will provide a new lease of life to this once-booming coal region. I therefore commend this private member's bill to the House today.

Debate adjourned.