Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Defence Personnel) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment (Extension and Other Measures) Bill 2021, which extends the capacity of the NAIF to provide assistance across the north of Australia. I like to read books when I'm catching a plane, often a book on history, or a biography; I find them interesting. My colleagues sometimes have a go at me for the size of the books I carry, which look like you could do weights with them! But one day on the way back from parliament to Queensland, on a Friday morning, I got hold of the report Our north, our future: white paper on developing northern Australia, released in 2015, and I was pretty excited when I read it. I thought it was a pretty good report which looked at the challenges we face. With a population of just over a million north of the Tropic of Capricorn but 40 per cent of our landmass, it's not just an economic development issue; it's a national security issue and I think a social justice issue for our Indigenous brothers and sisters, who make up such a large proportion of the north of Australia.

But I've got to say, this government, when they brought in the NAIF, really messed it up. They've released only $218.4 million of the $5 billion they've allocated, and of course this facility runs out in the middle of this year. So, because of the NAIF not working the way it should have worked, the government's now having to extend it for five years, change it to smaller projects, change the facility provision, bypass states and territories and even do some amendments that look like they take into consideration the experience of our Indigenous brothers and sisters in the north, so they made some important amendments. But we shouldn't have had to get to this point, because, as Labor's been saying—and I know some opposite have said it as well—we should be supporting the economic development of northern Australia, the protection of its environment, which is fragile, and the empowerment of northern Australia's First Nations population. There are incredible opportunities in northern Australia, from the Northern Territory to Western Australia, the Kimberley and up in the Torres Strait, and in the major provincial cities of Queensland and the outback of Queensland. These opportunities include agriculture, tourism, biofuels, renewable energy, mining, tropical medicine and the like.

So, this legislation shouldn't have been necessary, but it is, because the government has completely messed it all up, after the opportunities and the excitement that you could have experienced when reading the white paper. This government has failed northern Australia. We've seen some good governments in northern Australia, at times—the Queensland Labor government, the Western Australian government, who placed an enormous amount of emphasis on infrastructure, airports, ports, the establishment of supply chains, a competitive tax environment, a skilled workforce and a whole range of issues that they've addressed and are addressing. I commend the McGowan government and the Palaszczuk government for the work they've done.

On this side we have supported the NAIF and had hoped that the government would do better, and unfortunately they have not. The member for Dawson can talk about all the projects that have been committed to, identified and thought about. But the release of the money is crucial. The member talked about the banking industry. Well, I'm telling you, you can't actually buy that house-and-land package unless the bank releases the money so that you can actually settle that and buy it. This government has not released the money—just $218.4 million out of $5 billion. It has not been a good investment. That is not a good track record. You can say you're 'going towards'. You can say you're 'having discussions', or negotiations, or that you've signed a memorandum of understanding. But you've actually not got the money out the door.

So, if this particular legislation will get the money out the door, Labor will support it. But it shouldn't have had to come to this. We do support another five-year extension. But there are those opposite who know, in their heart of hearts, that the government has not fulfilled the potential of the NAIF. It has been the 'no actual infrastructure facility'. They can't even be specific about the number of jobs or the amount of money they've allocated.

When I spoke in response to the minister's ministerial statement in October last year I pointed out that the minister said one thing on 30 September last year in terms of the money they'd committed and then another thing in terms of the jobs. By six or seven days later—I think it was 6 October, about a week later—they had lost 700 jobs and $400 million. That was in his own ministerial press releases. They couldn't even get that right within seven or eight days. They couldn't even work that out. How can you lose 700 jobs and about $400 million in about seven days? This was in the minister's own press releases.

The government can't get the story straight. If this legislation will help them then we'll support it, but they haven't done a good job in northern Australia and they haven't done a good job on the NAIF. The fact that they have this legislation before the chamber today indicates quite clearly that they've messed up and haven't handled it well. The promises that were there with the white paper haven't been fulfilled and the government is playing catch up. I hope this works. We've been arguing for some of these things, like a more flexible approach in terms of credit facilities and also smaller projects as well. I hope the government gets this right for the sake of my home state of Queensland. It's certainly a fact that having this legislation before the chamber is an indictment on this government and a demonstration of its failure.

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