Alan Eggleston (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Rudd government has shown no understanding that the north of Australia has enormous potential or, it seems, no commitment to realising that potential. The recent Northern Australia Land and Water Taskforce report was disappointing, because it seems to me its recommendations were focused on preserving the past instead of focused on the future and the opportunities that were offered. The potential of the north is enormous. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s I attended north Australia development conferences that highlighted the fantastic potential for development in Northern Australia not only in agriculture but also in many other fields, including tourism, mining and aquaculture, which would create jobs and realise the potential of the north.

To be fair, the task force was severely constrained by the terms of reference given to it by the Rudd government, which were mostly about land and water. But even in agriculture this report is far from visionary. Notwithstanding the great success of the Ord River project, which was funded by the federal coalition under Prime Minister Menzies and which is now being extended at a cost of over $200 million, thanks to the Barnett government in Western Australia, the task force report claims that the potential for irrigated agriculture is limited because there are only four potential new dam sites across Northern Australia. But, as Senator Siewert pointed out, a lot of arable land was identified away from these rivers and dam sites. And, of course, agriculture does not have to be limited to the area’s surrounding dams, because water can be piped across long distances to facilitate development. For example, Libya has a network of pipes large enough to drive trucks through to transport water 1,000 kilometres from aquifers inland to provide water for irrigated agriculture on the Mediterranean coast. I can see no reason why this could not be done in Northern Australia to provide water for irrigated agriculture in many locations across the north. All that is needed is the vision, and the vision, it seems, is not there.

As I said, from my experience I am aware that there is enormous potential for economic development in areas not mentioned by the Northern Land and Water Taskforce report and apparently not in consideration by the Rudd government. For example, great opportunities exist in areas as diverse as fishing and aquaculture, from prawn and fish farms to cultured pearls, as well as in tourism and in the resources sector. In tourism, people look to go to areas that are unique and different. For example, Germans and other Europeans flock in their thousands to Africa to see what is different about Africa. The things that are unique and different about Australia are mostly to be found in the north. But has the Rudd government charged Tourism Australia to shift its focus to Northern Australia? The answer is no, in spite of falling inbound tourism figures to Australia from countries like Japan.

Clearly, the mining industry offers enormous potential in the north, but there is a need to upgrade infrastructure, such as roads and ports, to facilitate such development. However, this kind of infrastructure was not included in the Rudd government’s stimulus program. When I attended the Riding the Boom conference in the Pilbara a couple of years ago the parliamentary secretary, Gary Gray, when confronted by local residents who called for improvements in community infrastructure to match the vast wealth coming out of the Pilbara coast, told them they were all ‘whingers’. That is rather disappointing and shows no feeling for or understanding of the needs of the people in that area.

I am disappointed that the Rudd government has made no real commitment to expanding Indigenous employment opportunities, given the well-known plight of Aborigines in the north. We have all heard sad stories of drug and alcohol addition, and physical and sexual abuse, in Indigenous communities. It is generally agreed that the root cause of most of the problems for Indigenous people is that they have no hope in their lives—their tribal culture has been distorted and they have not found a way into the world of mainstream, modern Australia. What is needed is to find jobs for Indigenous people so that the poisonous cycle of welfare dependence and hopelessness is ended and replaced with Indigenous people having a sense of dignity and purpose in their lives, coming from having a job and a regular income.

Some years ago the mining industry committed itself to increasing Indigenous employment and training. Companies such as Rio Tinto have achieved outstanding success, with 25 per cent of the workforce at the Argyle diamond mine being Indigenous. But there are still 4,000 unemployed young Aborigines in the East Kimberley alone, and one must ask why the Rudd government has not sought solutions to this situation. The proposed Price Point LNG plant, on 25 kilometres of land just north of Broome, is another project that offers the potential for Indigenous employment, but the press is carrying stories that the Rudd government may not give the project the go-ahead. One must wonder who the Rudd government is listening to. Is it the traditional owners, who have supported the Price Point project because of the benefits it will bring to local Indigenous people? Or is it those living on the east coast who do not want to have any progress or development in the north—people such as Murray Wilcox QC, whose recent photographic book on the Kimberley completely misrepresented the impact of the Price Point— (Time expired)