Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Leichhardt for his question. He knows that a strong north means a strong Australia. The Albanese Labor government is committed to developing northern Australia, because the Labor Party is the only party in this House that truly represents the interests of northern Australians and, indeed, the interests of all regional communities right around the country. Twenty-four members of this government, 24 members behind me here today, directly represent regional and remote communities around the country. That's many more than the 14 Nationals that we have in this chamber today. I might, to inform the House, take this opportunity to remind everyone that only one member of the Nationals today spoke in favour of the NAIF legislation before the parliament, and that is the former leader of the Nationals—well, one of the three former leaders of the Nationals in this House today.

The conflict in the Middle East has shown why it's important to build a future made in Australia, to support local industries, to strengthen our national resilience and our supply chains. From day one, the Albanese Labor government has been bolstering Australia's sovereign capability so that the nation can weather these international disruptions. One of the best examples is this government's support for the Perdaman urea project in Karratha through the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility. Urea is the N, the nitrogen, in the famous fertiliser made of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. This project is due to start production next year and, in the meantime, as the Minister for Climate Change and Energy and the    Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has explained, Australia is well supplied for urea.

Very importantly, the Perdaman project will ensure our farmers have a secure supply of fertiliser to strengthen Australia's food security and the food security of the region. Then there are the jobs—2,000 jobs in construction for the Perdaman project and 200 ongoing jobs. The NAIF has provided about $475 million to this project—to Perdaman itself, $220 million; to the Pilbara Ports Authority, $160 million; and to the Water Corporation as well.

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