Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak on the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2023. The Albanese Labor government is committed to developing Northern Australia and to supporting the lives and lifestyles of people in our northern region. This bill amends the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Act 2016. It proposes to increase the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility's appropriation from $5 billion to $7 billion; to add Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands—collectively, the Indian Ocean Territories—to the definition of Northern Australia in the act; and to clarify that the persons to which section 7(1A)(b) of the act refers are Indigenous persons, and that the objectives of the act include the provision of financial assistance for the development of northern Australian economic infrastructure for the benefit of Indigenous persons.

The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility has had a pretty chequered history. I remember reading the white paper on developing northern Australia back in June 2015. It was a policy proposal that had some good initiatives. It was commissioned by the former Abbott government. It was talking about new dams in the north, new roads, airstrips, water infrastructure and the development of the north for the benefit of Australia's First Nations people. It noted the fact that the northern parts of Australia, where about a million Australians live, compared to about 25 million living in the southern bit below the Tropic of Capricorn, could be an economic powerhouse. It still does a lot, including the cattle industry, tourism, mining and a whole range of areas across my home state of Queensland as well as the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

As a Queenslander, I have travelled extensively to northern parts of my state, through the Northern Territory—particularly, on many occasions, with the former member for Lingiari, Warren Snowdon—and also up in the Kimberley and the northern parts of Western Australia. I can tell you it's a great experience. For those Australians who might be listening, it's really important to look and see the potential that we have in the northern part of Australia and to look at the great work done by people like the Indigenous rangers in places like Maningrida in the northern parts of the country. It's fantastic.

But the infrastructure that we need there in the north is something that's taking a long time. I think it's quite clear that for a number of years the NAIF, which we called the 'No Actual Infrastructure Facility', was an abject failure under the previous government when it was first established. As the former shadow minister for northern Australia, I remember we'd see ministers go up there and say one thing in a speech and then report on the NAIF in the parliament and the House of Representatives, and I'd shake my head and think, 'That doesn't accord with what they actually said in the press release before.' Then they'd have another press release after. It just seemed like the figures would waft off the top. It really was quite extraordinary that at times they could lose jobs and then gain jobs, and the figures didn't match. It just seemed like the previous government had no real focus on what actually was happening.

I remember one particular occasion with one of the ministers. You could see his puzzlement on his face, because I was quoting his figures back at him, and it didn't accord with the speech he'd just given to the House of Representatives. There was no real focus in the previous government. It seemed also that you had to be a donor to the LNP to have any opportunity to get on the board at one stage, because half the people on the board were donors to the LNP in Queensland. The extent to which the NAIF seemed to lose focus was astonishing. It was taken as something that was going to achieve things but never actually achieved the national economic significance that it was meant to have.

Eventually, after reviews and a lot of criticism by their own side and by people outside—I've met with people, chambers of commerce, in the north of Queensland who were very, very critical of the NAIF. The NAIF's purpose in large part was to provide assistance. It was to provide bespoke and flexible loan facilities and concessional loans, including longer loan tenure than that offered by commercial financiers but not exceeding the longest term of Commonwealth borrowings. It was to make sure that lower interest rates were offered. It was to make sure that extended periods of capitalisation beyond construction could be completed. It was to make sure that there were lines-of-credit guarantees and that lending could be provided; to make sure there were small loans for small-scale projects; and to help finance partnerships; and there were a whole range of other clever, flexible and bespoke ways in which the NAIF was supposed to assist people in the northern part of the country.

Eventually, after a long period of time, towards the end of the previous government's tenure, they started to get it together. They did make the announcement that we're legislating here. The $5 billion was going to increase to $7 billion but, like a lot of what they said they were going to do, they never got around to doing it. The increase of $2 billion was confirmed in the October budget that we did and matches the previous government's spoken commitment to do it. The additional $2 billion will enhance the NAIF's capacity to provide financial assistance to businesses and communities, and it demonstrates the bipartisan approach we took to supporting the NAIF when it was created. Complaining about the government's failure to get it focused has been carried out by the Albanese Labor government, which is committed to making sure that the NAIF does its job.

The NAIF is financing infrastructure development with $3.9 billion in loans approved for projects to date, $2.6 billion of which is already contractually committed. These investments are forecast to generate $29 billion in economic benefits and to support more than 14,800 jobs, which is very good for northern Australia and good for the country. This will ensure that we grow the pipeline of investments into the northern economies of our country, which was talked about previously in the white paper and endlessly by the previous government without much success, and boost local employment opportunities. Continuing investment in the NAIF will make a significant contribution to whole-of-government objectives, including action on climate change, and if ever a part of the country was going to be affected by climate change, with cyclones, floods and fires, it is northern Australia. Also, it provides practical ways to the Closing the Gap goals and implement statements such as the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

By extending the definition of 'northern Australia' to include the Indian Ocean Territories, the NAIF will be empowered to provide financial assistance to the development of economic infrastructure as a basis for economic growth and the stimulation of populations in those territories. The inclusion of those territories was a public announcement of the previous government, but it is this government that is actually carrying that out. The government strongly supports this measure, because access to the facility to provide opportunities in these territories will enable businesses to diversify and create new jobs. These territories have immeasurable and immense potential. There is tourism, for a start. There is incredible biodiversity and natural beauty that will attract tourists, and there are real opportunities there. The NAIF will assist the Indian Ocean Territories in many ways to achieve that potential. Allowing the Indian Ocean Territories to benefit from financial assistance provided by the facility will enable local businesses to create jobs, and I think it really goes hand in glove with our core principle about no-one being left behind and no-one being held back.

The third change made by this section refers to that section I referred to earlier and makes reference to section 51(xxvi) of the Constitution, with the purpose of enabling the NAIF to provide assistance for the development of northern Australia infrastructure for the benefit of a racial group, and that will be beneficial. This is a problematic subsection of the Constitution, I might add, because, as previous joint select committees of this parliament have found, there's an opportunity within that subsection for the country to see adverse impacts passed by legislation. Almost every time in the past that subsection in our Constitution has been invoked, there has been a negative outcome for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. So that's one of those subsections of the Constitution that I have real concerns about, and I think that at some stage as a country we should be looking to make amendments to that, as has been found on previous occasions by a joint select committee chaired by former Indigenous affairs minister Ken Wyatt, which I was a part of some years ago and which looked at that particular subsection.

In any event, there's a general reference in this subsection of the Constitution, and it's ambiguous. There's an opportunity, I think, for an act which should refer directly to the people for whom the parliament is making the law. There's clarification here that the persons referred to in section 7(1A)(b) are Indigenous persons. It removes the potential ambiguity in the act. As I say, I think that subsection of the Constitution, like another section which contemplates the idea of states taking away First Nations people's voting rights and only being punished for doing so by not having those persons included in a census for the purposes of representation in the House of Representatives, really should be looked at in a referendum at some stage in the future. I know we've got the Voice to Parliament referendum later this year, but I think that as a country we should have a really good look at those other sections of the Constitution. This amendment, this legislative change that we're bringing today, is consistent with our commitment to the Voice to Parliament, and the government is strongly committed to improving outcomes for First Nations people.

More broadly, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility can play a significant role in supporting the government's regional and northern Australia agendas, including ambition on climate change and investing in manufacturing renewables for our First Nations people, particularly in the north. There are many projects that we've talked about, certainly in our first budget, which saw many new investments in northern Australia: for example, to name just a few, $70 million for the Pilbara Hydrogen Hub up in Western Australia and $565 million for common user port facilities in the Pilbara. In my home state of Queensland, there's $150 million for the Cairns Marine Precinct, $50 million for the Central Queensland University campus, $79.1 million for the Townsville Hydrogen Hub, and $188 million for the Great Barrier Reef, which is not just a World Heritage facility; I make the point that it's a great tourism and economic development region for Queensland. There's $400 million in the Queensland Beef Corridors, which includes road infrastructure for the Dawson, Burnett and Leichhardt highways.

In the Northern Territory, there's $80 million for the National Aboriginal Art Gallery in Alice Springs to establish a world-leading facility displaying Australia's most significant First Nations artists. I've seen some amazing art galleries and artistic talent in places like Maningrida, Halls Creek, the Kimberley, Alice Springs and Far North Queensland—the cape and Torres Strait. These are great economic opportunities, not just in the development of the talents and skills of our First Nations people but in selling Australia to the world. It's a great tourist opportunity and a great opportunity for people in northern Australia.

This is just a snapshot of some of the things that we're doing in the north of Australia. We are taking action on climate change, as we saw with the passage of the safeguard mechanism through the House. This is really important. In the northern part of Australia, taking action on climate change is really critical, and I think that will be very important.

There are so many critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, rare earth metals, platinum and silicon—the foundation for most of the clean energy technologies, such as electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels. This is where northern Australia can play a big role. The NAIF has a real opportunity for us to exercise those loan facilities and that support for taking action on climate change in northern Australia. There is a real opportunity for people in my home state of Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia's northern part. I am very pleased to support this legislation. I have been a big supporter of the development of the north of my home state for a long time. I have family and friends living in places like Cairns and Townsville, and I've visited the cape and the Torres Strait many times. This is a great opportunity. I'm pleased to support this bill, and I commend it to the House.

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