Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Phrases such as 'critical minerals', 'rare earths', 'net zero economy' and 'a future made in Australia' are not just passing buzzwords, and they're not just convenient political catchphrases. These words represent the strategic foundations of Australia's economic resilience and growth, our national security and our long-term competitiveness. Those words mean something. They mean something to a lot of people. I cut my teeth representing workers in the manufacturing industry, representing boilermakers, fitters and turners and sheet metal workers. Can I tell you that, whether those working Australians are working to build trains, working in medical manufacturing or making components, what is clear is that manufacturing is important because it creates jobs. It creates good jobs, ones that offer secure pathways and a job with dignity. It affects livelihoods; it affects families. Making sure that those families have a strong foundation—at the same time as building economic resilience for our nation, at the same time as value adding to core and critical supply chains in our globe—is something that we can never forget. Once those skills are lost, once those industries are lost, they are very hard to get back.

These factors are all part of Australia's strategy in what is very much a changing landscape—how nations secure supply chains, how they develop advanced manufacturing and how they prepare their workforces for a low-emissions global economy. Because that's what the future is, that's what the future holds. We as a country, as a nation and as a people want to be at the forefront of that future if we are to secure both our communities and our economy going forward.

Australia is extremely well positioned to capitalise on our strengths in this evolving landscape. We have abundant natural resources, a skilled workforce, R&D excellence and a geographic location in the Indo-Pacific. We need to invest in that. We need to make sure that those things continue and we need to make sure, if we're going to drive our economy, that it involves this mix. Our nation's future prosperity, and indeed our security, will be reliant on our ability to capitalise on these strengths and harness and support the emerging industries focused on critical minerals, rare earths and the net zero economy.

At the core of this drive is the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, the NAIF, which is the foundation of northern Australia's economic development agenda. The NAIF is a $7 billion Commonwealth government financier providing concessional loans for the development of infrastructure projects in northern Australia and the Australian Indian Ocean Territories. Its primary aim is to accelerate infrastructure development across northern Australia. Its core purpose is to stimulate economic growth, attract private sector investment and deliver broad public benefit, including sustainable Indigenous participation and employment outcomes.

The NAIF supports a wide range of sectors that are critical to northern Australia's economic and social development. It provides financial assistance, primarily in the form of concessional loans, to projects that deliver new or materially enhanced infrastructure, boosting the economies of the Northern Territory, of my home state of Queensland and, Deputy Speaker Mascarenhas, of your home state of Western Australia.

In the energy sector the NAIF contributes to projects involving the generation, transmission and storage of renewable energy, supporting the growth of a sustainable energy future and national net zero objectives. The NAIF also plays a significant role in the resources sector by funding developments across critical minerals, rare earths, fertilisers, gold and copper. These minerals are so critical to our modern way of life. They're so critical to the way that the world works now and the way that our country works now. They're critical to connectivity. They're critical to health. They're critical to education. They're critical to our economy. In transport and logistics the NAIF finances infrastructure like ports, airports, rail and freight networks, which connect communities and unlock supply chains. Beyond these core sectors the NAIF supports additional industries where investments leads to substantial new or improved infrastructure.

This is about building our nation, it's about driving our economy and it's about making sure that we've got the skills to continue do so. This includes areas such as manufacturing, telecommunications, tourism related developments and aquaculture. Crucially, the facility also invests in social infrastructure, enhancing essential services such as education, health care, housing and community facilities to improve liveability and support thriving local communities. Perhaps the best summary is this: the NAIF's investments are forecast to generate around $33 billion in direct economic benefit from the 32 funded projects across northern Australia.

They are also supporting thousands and thousands of jobs—good jobs, jobs that create pathways and futures not just for the individual but for the family and the community as well. Many of these jobs—over 1,385 of them as of 31 December 2025—have gone to First Nations people. These positive outcomes for First Nations peoples reflect the requirement of NAIF financed projects to support local businesses and local communities—the ones that need that investment, those skills, those secure jobs the most—and project plans that specify First Nations involvement from procurement all the way to employment.

This bill amends the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Act 2016 to extend its operations until 30 June 2036. This comes after a recent review, which involved significant consultation across northern Australia, concluded the facility is fit for purpose. The bill implements five-year reviews to ensure it remains that way. There are two other key amendments to this bill. The first concerns strengthening accountability for compliance with the investment mandate, and the second establishes joint responsibilities for the two ministers responsible, the Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia, and the Minister for Finance. This brings the facility in line with standard practice for Commonwealth specialist investment vehicles.

It's worth looking more closely at some specific projects that were made possible by NAIF—projects that came to life only because the Albanese Labor government has made an investment in this space, projects only made possible because NAIF exists and because we've worked to make sure that we continue to invest in it. The Critical Minerals Strategy 2023 to 2030 outlines the government's plan to strengthen and indeed expand Australia's critical minerals industry. The NAIF was accordingly directed to set aside $500 million of its appropriation to support projects aligned with this strategy. It's a big investment, and it's a big investment because we know that these are the projects that drive our economy and that also drive and lift up those local communities in and across northern Australia.

An example of this is the Arafura Nolans Bore Rare Earths Project. This Northern Territory based project received up to $200 million in financing in January 2024. It's expected to deliver around $1.4 billion in economic benefit and generate approximately 334 jobs, supporting long-term growth in the region. Behind each and every one of those 334 jobs is a story, a family, skills and a pathway for their future. What is the project? It's the mining and processing of two rare-earth elements which are critical for producing high-performance permanent magnets for electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, smartphones and a range of robotic technologies. What the NAIF does is bring together so many things that are important to this Labor government. It brings together secure jobs. It brings together investment in regions. It brings together the technologies that we know are economy driving, and it packages them up to make sure that we get a boost for our nation.

The Alpha HPA project in Queensland is also accessing $200 million through NAIF to support the production of over 10,000 tonnes of high-purity alumina. This will be used in manufacturing for products such as LED lights, lithium-ion batteries and semiconductors. Aligned with A Future Made in Australia, this investment is enabling industry diversification in the Gladstone area, creating hundreds and hundreds of jobs and injecting hundreds of millions of dollars into the regional economy in Queensland.

Over in WA—this might be an interesting one for you, Deputy Speaker—the Chichester Solar Gas Hybrid Project is part of the drive to a net zero economy. The $90 million loan from the NAIF enabled the development of a new solar generation facility. The facility is expected to displace 100 million litres of diesel generation annually from the Pilbara, and the result is a cleaner and more affordable supply of energy.

It's not only the economic impact, though; it's also the social impact that NAIF brings. The NAIF complements its economic development mandate with finance for vital social infrastructure projects—I say 'vital', because northern Australia spans vast distances, with small, widely dispersed populations, making it difficult for many communities to access essential services. The region's remoteness, climate and limited infrastructure create unique challenges for delivering education, health care, housing and other everyday needs. A large share of the population is made up of First Nations communities, each with specific cultural and social priorities. Purpose built social infrastructure is vital to support these communities, to preserve cultural identity and to improve access to key services. I know that this is also something particularly important to the member for Leichhardt, who's sitting there as a great representative of those Queensland regional communities every day.

When you think about regional and remote communities and what they need to stay strong, it's facilities such as schools, medical clinics, housing, community hubs and cultural spaces which are critical. When these services are strong, they help attract and retain residents, support the local economy and workers and boost overall liveability. They're important. The NAIF helps address these challenges by providing long-term, flexible finance for social infrastructure projects, with a focus on developing infrastructure that provides clear and lasting public value. This includes investment in facilities for education and skills development, enabling people to train, skill up, learn and build long-term career pathways.

One example is the Cairns Seniors Community Housing Project, which has benefited from a loan of up to $140 million from the NAIF. Construction on this project is due to be completed by December this year, with 490 dwellings being available to house around 690 people. Another North Queensland example is the NAIF's loan to James Cook University to construct new student accommodation. It's a seven-storey facility that houses over 400 students, and it's right next door to James Cook University's Engineering and Innovation Place. NAIF funding of $96 million enabled the development of a dedicated space where engineering and IT students, researchers and industry partners can collaborate on innovation and technology development. As part of the social infrastructure mandate, there is also investment available for health and aged-care infrastructure to improve wellbeing and support quality care across those regions.

The NAIF has already delivered more than $4 billion worth of investments across northern Queensland, the NT and northern Western Australia. The few I've mentioned here today illustrate how the NAIF has the capacity to affect positive and lasting change across many sectors, in many communities and in many families. The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment Bill 2026 means that the NAIF will remain a secure, consistent and transparent source of funding to bolster economic development, jobs and infrastructure for our whole nation.

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment Bill 2026. As the member for Durack, I consider this bill to be very close to my electorate and to me. Nearly half of my electorate is part of northern Australia and has benefited from the NAIF.

This bill directly affects me in my role to support those living in the north of Western Australia. The coalition has long supported and advocated for the development of northern Australia. We've always recognised the importance of a strong northern Australia and the prosperity this provides to our economy. It was, of course, a coalition Turnbull government that established the NAIF back in 2016, and I was very proud to support the new funding model at the time. The $7 billion fund has underpinned around 20,000 jobs across Australia. As at October 2025, NAIF was supporting 32 projects.

The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility has helped improve essential services, strengthened global supply chains, created jobs and training opportunities, supported Indigenous engagement, increased resilience of infrastructure and encouraged private investment. It has been a central pillar of development across northern Australia since its establishment. The investments provided under the NAIF have backed projects across a variety of industries, from agriculture to transport, mining and energy, housing and telecommunications. It was a coalition government that established, funded and legislated the NAIF, and we will continue to ensure it remains for years to come. At the last election, we took a policy to make the fund permanent because we acknowledge the need to cement the north's economic footprint. It is a real shame that the Albanese government is not legislating to make the NAIF permanent. Instead, we are left with uncertainty over the program.

I can attest that the support provided through the NAIF has allowed growth and development in resource-rich regions of Durack, particularly the Kimberley and the Pilbara. Under the Turnbull and Morrison governments, thousands of new jobs were created in Durack from those investments, which have provided arguably billions of dollars in public benefit, with the value growing as these projects evolve. The NAIF plays a vital role in enabling projects that might otherwise never be built. By partnering with private industry to support large-scale infrastructure, the NAIF creates jobs during construction, sustains long-term employment once operational and delivers lasting benefits to those regional communities. For communities across the Kimberley, the Pilbara and beyond, this investment means new opportunities, stronger local economies and greater long-term certainty.

I want to take a moment to note the Minister for Climate Change and Energy's recent comments regarding the Albanese government's NAIF investment in the Perdaman urea project in Karratha. I'd like to take this opportunity to put on record that this investment was created and announced under the Morrison government, to make this important urea project a reality. This was a significant investment in what will be Australia's largest urea plant, kickstarting a new multibillion-dollar fertilising industry, creating 2½ thousand jobs and around $8½ billion in public benefits. This project is significant.

In 2021, in support of the Perdaman project, the coalition announced a NAIF commitment of $160 million to the Pilbara Ports authority. These funds were for a multi-user wharf and facilities at the Port of Dampier. At the same time, there was also a funding commitment of $95 million to the Water Corporation for the expansion of the Burrup seawater supply and brine disposal scheme. It is worth highlighting that both of these entities are owned by the state government of Western Australia. Without the investment by the coalition in the key infrastructure for the Perdaman project, this project would not have got to the starting line.

In addition to investing in state government entities—important infrastructure—the coalition announced a further funding commitment of $220 million to the actual Perdaman urea project in August 2022. I was in Karratha only the other week, and it is so pleasing to see this project coming out of the ground. It is really, really exciting. The coalition supports the extension of the NAIF's investment period for another 10 years, through to 2036. This extension is critical, but, as I said, it would have been preferred if we were today talking about it becoming a permanent body. Major infrastructure projects do not operate on short timelines. Ports, rail networks, energy infrastructure and water projects require long-term planning, financing and construction. Extending the NAIF provides certainty to investors, businesses and communities that the Commonwealth remains committed to the development of northern Australia.

As the member for Durack, of course I would like to see more projects funded by the NAIF in north-west Australia. So, although supporting this extension, the coalition will be focused on ensuring that projects deliver genuine public benefit and that regional communities see real outcomes, not just announcements. Investments must prioritise projects that strengthen local economies, create sustainable employment and deliver lasting benefits to regional communities right across the north. Northern Australia holds enormous potential for our nation's future. From critical minerals and energy to agriculture and international trade, the north will play a vital role in our economic prosperity in the decades ahead.

I reflect on travelling around in 2012 and 2013, when Andrew Robb was the relevant shadow minister, and talking about the development of the north and what we could do there. I think it's fair to say that we still haven't done enough. We still haven't unlocked the economic potential. NAIF is a part of that. If I can give a message to the people in NAIF it would be that if we can make decisions quicker—say no quicker and say yes quicker—I think that would be of enormous potential and an enormous help to those projects, because people are left hanging for far too long. It's a little bit of encouragement. If we're going to say no, we should say no quickly or say yes quickly, so we can actually get these projects out of the ground.

We are supporting this bill. Of course, we support the NAIF. The coalition created the NAIF, and we recognise the importance of continuing this investment. For the communities across Durack and the north, NAIF represents an ongoing commitment to the infrastructure that supports jobs, drives investment and strengthens regional Australia. A thriving north equals a prosperous Australia. It always has; it always will. For that, we need the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund, which is why the coalition created the fund and why we support this bill today.

Matt Smith (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment Bill 2026 and the important investment it will unlock in northern Australia, and I do mean unlock. There are a lot of technical parts to this. The member for Moreton went over them in great detail. I'm not going to bother.

The fact is that if you look at Australia from my perspective, it's upside down. All of the population is in the south, but all the best stuff—everything that we need—is in the north. Throughout history, the way colonisation occurred was that the population was in the south; in the north, there was not quite as much. The NAIF exists to rectify this—to give the north the opportunity to really, really shine. We shine pretty brightly anyway. Our mining sector punches above its weight. The critical minerals, which will be so important for the rest of this century and into the future, are all in the north. Our tourism is the best in the world. We have world-class attractions. We have places you can go and see that are represented only in Australia and only in the north of Australia. It is beautiful.

Our people are tough and resilient. We handle natural disasters in our stride. We deal with the humidity and the heat. We are a tough group of people. Our farmers reflect that. They are strong. They bring us the best produce in the country and some of the best beef in the world. American McDonald's uses Australian beef, and they use a lot of it too. There are bananas, exotic fruits and avocados. Your hamburgers are better because of what happens in the Far North. At Christmas when you're getting those gulf prawns, the big tigers—they're from the north as well. Our cultural history goes back for 60,000 unbroken years. When you go to some of the communities that I get to represent, English is the third or fourth language. Children will speak to you first in Wik, and it is beautiful.

We are in a position, though, where we can take all of this, add to it and make the north even stronger and, as a consequence, make Australia stronger. We have the potential for renewable energy, massive tidal zones, huge amounts of space, plenty of wind, plenty of water, plenty of sunshine and biofuels. There's so much work being done with sugar—turning sugar into ethanol and turning sugar into jet fuel. Guess what there's a lot of in Leichhardt? There's sugarcane everywhere as far as the eye can see. It's a part of our identity. When I drive home over the Barron River and look over the cane and the vistas going back up to the range, it's beautiful. It screams Far North Queensland and it screams prosperity. It screams opportunity. All these opportunities in our regions are going to help the country grow. But, to make the most of any opportunity, to make the most of any potential, we have to invest in it. If you don't invest in potential, that potential is wasted. That's precisely why the NAIF is so important, precisely why it exists and precisely why it needs to be extended.

The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility fund is worth $7 billion and is a government development financier providing concessional loans for the development of infrastructure projects right across the north and the Indian Ocean Territories. There is an impressive portfolio of investments in my own seat, including social and affordable housing. There are 490 places. That's 490 homes. It's not just about the jobs. It's not just about addressing the housing situation. It's a place where families are going to grow. It's a place where grandparents will meet their grandchildren for the first time. It is a place where Christmas presents will be opened. It is a place where birthdays will be celebrated and where loved ones will be welcomed. That's what these investments are. They're not just economic; they're also social. If we are going to build the economic future of Australia in the north, we're going to need people and we're going to need places for these people to live. I've inspected that place many times. I'm very excited about what that means for my community.

The NAIF will stick around until at least 2036, safeguarded by five-yearly reviews. The world is changing. The way that we interact with technology is changing. So it is appropriate that this legislation is built to change with it. That flexibility is going to enable us to deliver the right projects in the right areas. The increase from $2 billion to $7 billion is massive. It shows confidence in what the Far North can deliver. It shows confidence in our regions. It shows that this Anthony Albanese Labor government acknowledges that the world is pivoting to the north and is going to pivot with it. I'm so very proud to be part of a Labor government that now has so many regional MPs and so much representation across the north of Australia and that our voices are being heard. The potential, the opportunity and who we are are being recognised. It's about what that means not just for me but for the future of my children, my children's friends and the communities that have sometimes been left behind in economic development.

Every community that I go to across Leichhardt has a plan. They know where they want to go. They know what they want to do. The NAIF is going to help them unlock the finance that they need to get that going. I hear about abattoirs and produce markets and ways to feed the mining camps at Rio Tinto and Cape Flattery. I hear about cultural tourism and what that could mean to these local communities. People are talking to us about geothermal electricity. There's all this potential. It all needs investment, and sometimes government needs to step in to be that investor—to invest in our people and invest in our ideas. That is what the NAIF is for.

A part of that, of course, will be the rest of the infrastructure that we're investing in. That includes better roads. You need that connectivity, which is why the investment in the Bruce Highway, the Kennedy Development Road, the Cairns Western Arterial Road, the Kuranda Range Road and the bridges is so important. These are just some of the roads in my electorate that are going to benefit from that. We're also investing in universities. This holistic approach means that the Far North is positioned uniquely to move forwards, and it is all driven by the NAIF.

I hope through my speech I have shown just how important both the NAIF and government investment are to northern Australia and what northern Australia means to the rest of the country. We are not the final frontier. We are the future. The NAIF allows us to be the best version of ourselves and will help bring Australia along with us. I commend this bill to the House and all urge all members to back in northern Australia.

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment Bill 2026, and I have to admit I'm getting a bit of deja vu. I've had this bill in this House previously, and I still have the same issues with it. It is an incredibly important fund and aspect, for Northern Australia needs that investment. Earlier last year I had the opportunity to travel around the Torres Strait Islands, and it's incredibly clear how much investment is needed in the northern and more remote areas of Australia. This NAIF facility is incredibly important. I absolutely support that northern Australia needs investment. It needs roads, ports, transmission, storage, water, housing, community infrastructure and clean industry. But let's be really clear: what it does not need is a publicly backed slush fund for fossil fuel expansion.

This bill extends the NAIF's life to 30 June 2036. That is considerable. That is a further 10 years. It strengthens its governance settings, including joint ministerial responsibility and future review. But the central flaw of this bill is what it does not do. It does not rule out public money being used for fossil fuel infrastructure, and it does not require NAIF decisions to align with Australia's legislated climate goals. It does not make clear the consultation with First Nations Australians. If government and parliament are going to extend this facility—extend a $7 billion financing vehicle—for another decade, then parliament must also set clear public-interest guardrails. The NAIF says that it now has 32 projects and more than $4 billion in commitments. That scale makes the absence of climate guardrails and consistency even more serious and concerning.

Under the Morrison government the NAIF was expanded, and critics warned it could be used to support coal and gas. In January 2022, when the coalition announced an extra $2 billion of funding through the NAIF, it would not rule out the facility being used for projects such as the Beetaloo Basin—absolute carbon bombs in the making—with devastating consequences for climate change.

In 2021, when the Morrison government changed the NAIF framework, I moved amendments to prohibit NAIF assistance for fossil fuel based infrastructure, expressly including not funding natural gas projects or pipelines. Let's be clear. Gas companies are making super profits. They do not need public funding to facilitate them making money off the backs of Australians. Those amendments said that financial assistance must not be provided for fossil fuel based infrastructure. They have already benefited from generations of generous public subsidies. We cannot continue to do that and sensibly balance the budget. Gas was included in that definition, of course, as part of fossil fuels. Taxpayers should not be footing the bill for bad fossil fuel investments, so I will be moving amendments to prohibit fossil fuel funding through the NAIF.

Of course, it was not accepted under the Morrison government, but it's disappointing to see that these same loopholes exist under the Albanese government. In 2023, when the NAIF was expanded from $5 billion to $7 billion, I again warned this parliament that government investment in resource extraction, particularly fossil fuels, remained a major concern, and I again proposed amendments to stop public money being used to prop up further fossil fuel infrastructure.

The contrast is stark. History seems to be repeating itself. On one side, we extend the NAIF and commit significant amounts of public funds, and we leave the door open for fossil fuel funding. On the other, we have an opportunity to extend the NAIF—only modernised for the decade that we're actually in. Expand it so you're generally helping the northern communities with infrastructure they need, which will help them be resilient, productive and healthy into the future. In a decade of climate risk, the net-zero transition and the need for genuine partnership with First Nations communities, it is so important that a fund of this scale has the appropriate guardrails.

The facts and statistics that put the challenges and opportunities into perspective are stark. The wider issues this bill is trying to address are real. Northern Australia does face chronic infrastructure gaps. Capital is harder to secure. Distance and remoteness increase costs. Communities need long-term funding certainty. There is a real role for public finance to crowd in private investment where markets fail. I absolutely agree, and I support this, loudly, but an effective game plan for northern Australia's development in 2026 cannot look like a replay of 2021, or even previous years. First, back the infrastructure that actually prepares the north of Australia for the future it is facing. This includes transmission, storage, road, port resilience, community infrastructure and clean energy. Second, stop treating gas expansion as if it were nation building. It is not. It is just writing a blank cheque for gas companies to make superprofits. Third, require public financing to be consistent with Australia's climate law. This is not antidevelopment; this is smart and responsible investment into our future. Even the NAIF's own public messaging now talks about helping northern Australia transition to a renewable energy superpower, yet the legislation still lacks a clear prohibition on fossil fuel funding. That contradiction should be resolved in law, not in marketing copy.

Fossil fuel related projects continue to be funded under the NAIF from decisions made by the Morrison government, and the Albanese government has done nothing to stop that. The Olive Downs Steelmaking Coal Project, approved in 2021, produces 4.5 million tonnes of steelmaking coal per annum. Funding for the Onslow Marine Support Base expansion project, approved in 2017 and funded by a 10-year loan, supports vessels operating in the offshore oil and gas industry in Western Australia. A loan to the Chichester Solar and Gas Hybrid Project in Western Australia, approved by the NAIF in 2019 at a total cost of $90 million, is to be repaid over 22 years. It is clear there are still a number of projects, including fossil fuels and gas in particular, that are getting access to public funding through the NAIF. That is precisely why we need to do something about this. The funding pipeline remains heavily weighted towards resource extraction and associated industrial development.

We need legislative guardrails. A facility can avoid direct fossil fuel approvals in recent periods and still remain structurally open to fossil fuel funding. The issue is both what the NAIF has funded recently, and what this bill still allows the NAIF to fund in the future. On gas company profits, I've sought from the Parliamentary Library an analysis of just how much profit there is from the ATO office. The statistics show that the oil and gas extraction sector report incredibly large profits in the most recent available year.

In accordance with that analysis, the sector's total profits or losses are just staggering, and yet somehow public funding should be available to help fund infrastructure. It simply is obscene. When we think about what's sensible economic management, the pressures on the budget and every other aspect of the economy, we should be asking, as a basic public policy question, why should public concession finance be available to support an industry generating superprofits on a scale that is just breathtaking?

If gas proponents say their projects are commercially attractive then they should be able to finance them on that basis. They should not be requiring concessional finance through government funding. If they need taxpayer backed support to proceed, then parliament is entitled to ask whether the public is carrying a risk for those projects whose private returns are already substantial. Are we asking the NAIF then to fund projects that will ultimately be stranded assets? It reinforces the case that scarce public capital should be directed to public interest infrastructure, not used to the risk fossil fuel expansion.

I totally support that the bill has a legitimate purpose in extending the NAIF's decision-making window and maintaining an investment vehicle for northern Australia. There is a case for continuity, and I know the need is dire across so many areas. But there is definitely clear need for guardrails to ensure public funds are not used to further fund fossil fuel expansions. The amendment deals with funding decisions; making this legislation consistent with current law around the Climate Change Act and the net zero by 2050 obligation; prohibiting finance under the NAIF for gas facilities, including pipelines; and mandating consultation with First Nations for funding decisions under the NAIF. Too often we hear of First Nations communities who are being sidelined from public consultation in northern Australia but who are going to be impacted by projects, and that is just wrong. I don't understand how the Albanese government can continue with a process that does not embed proper consultation.

Left unamended, this bill extends the NAIF without clearly defining the public interest boundaries of that extension. A modern public finance institution should not be technology blind where the technologies in question carry radically different long-term risks for the communities that they are intending to help. Let's be very clear—we are on track to at least 2.5 to 2.6 degrees of warming. The consequences for northern Australia are dire. Those areas will have severe impacts. We are talking about heatwaves, a number of days per year that will be incredibly difficult, we are talking about their vulnerable communities becoming more vulnerable and we are talking about a much higher risk of floods and disasters.

So let's be really clear—is this concessional funding supposed to make this problem worse or better? If the NAIF were focused on actually building adaptation and resilience for northern Australia, I would be applauding, because that would actually make sense. But, if we don't have guardrails to ensure that the NAIF is not used to make the very problem those communities are going to face worse, then this is just bad spending.

Rowan Holzberger (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support this bill, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment Bill 2026. I'd like to respond to a couple of things the member for Warringah brought up. We understand what you're saying and what the community is asking. But the first thing is that, on First Nations participation, I think the point should be made that financing is conditional upon First Nations communities being incorporated into procurement and employment opportunities. As of last year, NAIF financing had supported over 1,385 jobs for Indigenous people in northern Australia and at least $240 million in Indigenous procurement. The government is very focused on getting a just and equitable outcome for First Nations people through this legislation.

The second thing I'd say is that, while this piece of legislation may not deal entirely with the net zero objectives of the government, it forms a part of that. You've got other measures, such as the Net Zero Fund, which recognise that. As a government we understand, and as an individual I understand, the wrench that the decarbonisation of the world economy has put in the Australian economy, particularly the Queensland economy. But I think the point should be made that, ultimately, this is not about funding oil and gas projects. This is about funding infrastructure, a lot of which will serve dual purposes. This is about unlocking roads and rail lines.

I think the point needs to be made not only that there is a broader approach to net zero, which this government is very focused on, but also that we have to maintain a balance and that energy security is just as important. Ultimately, it is the people in the community that I represent and the communities that we represent who would be impacted the hardest if we completely shut down those industries. I think the government's approach is the most sensible approach available to us. It is an approach of renewable energy, firmed by gas and batteries. I'm not exactly sure what an alternative approach that takes out gas would look like. I know what the opposition's approach is, though. It's the most expensive approach of coal and nuclear. I don't quite know why they're pursuing that policy, but I think it's because they've got an ideological obsession to prove their credentials in fighting the science of climate change. That's why they're going with coal and gas. They think that, if they can credibly pursue an argument that coal and gas is the answer, then they don't need to address climate change. I think that's why they're stuck on that loop. The government's approach is a whole approach to reduce net zero.

That's why this bill is important to me both on a personal level and on a political level. Personally, some members will know, I come from the bush—not northern Australia; I'm not privileged enough to come from above that line just below Rockhampton. I come from outback Australia, and I appreciate the economic potential that exists not just below the ground and walking around in paddocks but of the people of outback Australia and northern Australia. There is a spirit of resilience, a spirit of entrepreneurialism and a commitment to have a go. If we can help people in that area, if we can help the economy of that area, it is going to have an enormous benefit for people in the rest of Australia.

That's the second reason that I'd like to support this bill. I know, being privileged to represent and live in an outer metropolitan seat covering Logan and the Gold Coast, how important those northern Australian industries are to our local economy. The importance of that is hidden. In fact, I was looking at some of the statistics the other day. There's a suburb in Forde called Wolffdene, where five per cent of the whole workforce works directly in mining as FIFO workers. I think that Logan and the northern Gold Coast communities would have to be the biggest mining commuting communities in South-East Queensland. They're the direct jobs arising out of that development in the north of Australia. Then there are the indirect jobs. Think of Hastings Deering, which is set up next to the light plane airfield out at Archerfield in Brisbane. It employs thousands of people in South-East Queensland who service the dump trucks and the loaders and that enormous mining material that then goes up to northern Queensland to work on those mines. So you've got people that work directly in the mining industry and people that work in the service and maintenance industry. It just shows that, from an employment point of view, supercharging development in the North has an enormous benefit for people in the community that that I represent.

Of course, it is not just employment. This gets back to something I'm saying earlier. We as a government recognise what a wrench it is for the Australian economy to now be in a decarbonising world economy. Coal is still Queensland's single biggest export. It provides an enormous amount of money to the government directly through coal royalties. These are the sorts of services that people in our community rely on, provided by government and effectively paid for by coal royalties. So it is important that something like the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility not only has an eye to developing for the North but has an eye to developing and replacing the industries which will be affected by a decarbonising world.

I won't be too unkind to the opposition, seeing as they were the ones that set it up, but there was a bit of a joke at the time that 'NAIF' actually stood for the 'No Actual Infrastructure Fund'. It did take some time to get going, but it's got going now, and I understand the opposition is supportive of it continuing, which is exactly what this legislation does—it sees it continuing until 2036.

I think this approach is a fantastic way for government to get in behind industry and to give it that push for a loan that may not get through the bean counters at the Commonwealth Bank or at Macquarie. This is really government stepping in and providing that essential service of finance. Philosophically, I love that saying that you run a country like you run a company. That, I think, sometimes that gets thrown by the Libs as if to say we can't run the country. There are two ways to run a company. I've run a company; I know it. One is that you can invest in your plant and your people. The other is that you can delay the maintenance, you can strip out the profits, and you can run it into the ground. That is exactly what the NAIF does. That is exactly the Labor government's approach to running the country—investing in our plant and in our people. Even better, this is an investment that actually has a measurable return on its investment. This is money that will keep coming back in, so that the money can then be used again and again to grow the economy even further. This is an investment in the classic sense of the word. This will actually return dollars back into the government.

So, as I say, this NAIF fund sits within a broader strategy not only of achieving net zero but of housing. For example, the government has worked with the Queensland government to invest in the Cairns Seniors Community Housing Project, providing a loan of $140 million to the Cairns Seniors Community Housing Project—working with the Queensland government and working with Housing Australia to deliver 490 dwellings, comprising 245 social dwellings, 223 affordable and 22 SDA, specialist disability accommodation, apartments, providing housing to around 690 people. That's because there's a recognition here that housing is—in my view, which is a view that I've long held—the No. 1 thing that a government can do to improve economic capacity and productivity in the community.

In postwar Australia, there was a philosophy that, if we build public housing not just for the people who desperately needed it but for car workers, railway workers, teachers, police officers, aged-care workers, then we keep the cost of living down. That means that we keep rents down, which actually takes pressure off wages because they don't need to be so high. So you can maintain a high standard of living with a low cost of living. That helps business. Projects like this are providing that economic infrastructure. I guess the hint is in the name: the North Australian Infrastructure Facility. Projects like the housing project here are a material example of how the NAIF fits into the government's broader economic strategy.

But of course it is not just that. There's also net zero. I have never seen net zero as an economic problem. Net zero is a massive economic opportunity. If anything at the moment we have seen what it means when you are reliant on international energy supplies. I don't understand why the opposition are so wedded to coal and nuclear. Well, perhaps I do. Perhaps it is because they think that they need to satisfy Sky News—I mean their base—by saying that coal and nuclear are still the way. That way, they can avoid all the arguments about climate change science. But I just don't get why you would want to be walking away from what is the cheapest form of energy, which is renewable, which has the power to lift economic living standards.

As I said, in postwar Australia, housing was one strategy which governments followed to supercharge the Australian economy. But there was another strategy as well, which was cheap public energy—wonderful government owned public assets providing cheap energy to again keep the cost of living down, to keep that pressure off wages. That then helped business. Of course, in manufacturing, the cost of energy is such a vital part of that manufacturing cost that it helped keep that cost down for business as well. In Western Australia, it is the Chichester Solar Gas Hybrid Project—a loan of up to $90 million to displace 100 million litres of diesel generation annually from the Pilbara. This is a way of not only getting more energy into our system but providing it in a cleaner way.

Finally, I'd just say that there are many examples here, whether it's critical minerals, whether it's the future made in Australia, whether it's agriculture—this NAIF forms an essential part of the government's broader economic strategy and meets those broader economic goals. The idea that it continues to 2036 and the idea that its accountability measures are strengthened—I think it's going to give it the longevity that it so desperately needs and create the opportunities which are so abundantly clear. I commend the bill to the House.

Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Greens will be opposing the unamended Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment Bill 2026 in the House and reserving our position in the Senate. The reality is that there's nothing stopping the NAIF from being a fund to keep coal and gas on life support, and that is why we're opposing it.

I have an amendment, which has been circulated, to stop the NAIF funding dirty coal and gas projects and related infrastructure, and also native logging projects. Ending the public financing of coal and gas projects and infrastructure is an area where we were able to work with the government to make advances in the last parliament, and my amendment should be supported by the government to build upon that good work.

In the last parliament, we closed off the National Reconstruction Fund from funding coal, gas and native forest destruction. In the Future Made in Australia package, we ended the ability of Export Finance Australia to finance coal, oil and gas projects both in Australia and overseas. And we amended the broad grant power in the Industry Research and Development Act to turn off the massive pipeline of fossil fuel subsidies that the coalition was using to fund fracking in the Beetaloo and new coal plants in Queensland and support the gas fired recovery.

The same treatment now needs to extend to the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund. It was used by the coalition, who wanted to fund Adani's coalmine with $1 billion of public money—but the deal fell over. Queensland Labor vetoed it because they were worried about losing seats to the Greens. But the risk of financing fossil fuel projects with public money is not over. Right now, there is a gas project, the Comet Ridge project, that has issued a statement to the ASX that they are in discussions with the NAIF for a $110 million loan. Australians do not want their money propping up new coal and gas projects.

The NAIF is one of the last remaining specialist investment vehicles able to finance fossil fuel expansion with public money. My amendment gives effect to what informally appears to be Labor government policy—to not use public funding to fund coal and gas projects. The government should make its policy position clear by supporting this amendment.

Comet Ridge have applied for that funding because they couldn't or wouldn't obtain it through private lenders. Let me spell out what that means. That is the government, and therefore Australian taxpayers, taking on the risk of this gas project. Privatise the profits and socialise the losses of a project that'll make climate change worse and damage our future—it makes absolutely no sense, and the government must rule out funding it by supporting this amendment.

To summarise, public money should not be used to keep coal and gas projects on life support. It's simple. The Australian people don't want it, so why is the government entertaining the idea? Comet Ridge, that new gas project in Queensland, have bragged that they're in discussion with the NAIF, a government funding body, for a loan of $110 million. Let's be clear about what that means: Comet Ridge should and could be seeking private funding, but they're applying for this government backed loan because it gives them a better deal. It's the government, it's taxpayers, that are taking on the risk of that loan. Instead of derisking our future and our climate by ending new coal and gas projects, we are derisking this gas project, operated by a for-profit corporation, that'll make climate change worse.

We saw a decade of subsidies for fossil fuels under the Liberals, and now we're seeing Labor doing exactly the same. There's the fuel tax credits scheme, which cost the budget $10.2 billion in the 2024-25 financial year. Labor also put aside a tidy $1.9 billion in their first budget for the Middle Arm hub in Darwin, which will enable even more gas exports out of the Northern Territory. The Greens want no new coal and gas, because it's clear that new coal and gas is not compatible with a safe climate. But the least we can ask for is committing to an end to public money—to taxpayer money—going to make climate change worse.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Northern Australia is half of our continent by landmass and home to some of our most dynamic industries, our fastest growing communities and the First Nations peoples whose stewardship of country spans millennia. Of course, a strong north means a strong Australia, and today I'm proud to speak in support of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment Bill 2026, which will extend the NAIF, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, for a further 10 years. This is a practical, nation-building step that will unlock investment, create jobs, deepen First Nations participation and help secure critical supply chains as we transition to net zero, all while returning significant public benefit well beyond the Commonwealth's outlay—as significant as the Commonwealth's outlay is.

The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility is a $7 billion Commonwealth financier that provides concessional finance to infrastructure projects in the NT—and I'm proud to represent Territorians—in northern Queensland and in north-west WA, as well as in the Indian Ocean territories, finely represented by my mate and colleague the member for Lingiari in this place. These are projects that may often struggle to attract commercial finance because of their remoteness, their high level of risk—at times—the smaller populations and the long project timeframes.

Over its life, the NAIF has already committed more than $4 billion—as has been said, it had a slow start—hitting the ground in 32 project investments. The forecast public benefits now exceed $33 billion, so it's been a great return on investment from the NAIF so far. Importantly, tens of thousands of jobs have also been supported in the north. The core rationale for the NAIF and for economic and social development in the north remains unchanged: there is a genuine financing gap in our north, and the NAIF fills that gap. Distance, cyclones, flooding—like what we've got in the Territory at the moment—sparse populations and high logistics costs mean that commercially bankable projects often stall without catalytic public financing. The NAIF was designed to fill that gap.

Reforms since 2021 have equipped it with more flexible tools to do that job even more effectively. A new investment mandate strengthened the facility's ability to support high-impact projects, expanding eligibility and clarifying how to assess public benefit. It has also enabled on-lending arrangements to help regional and community-scale projects and removed earlier restrictions that limited the NAIF's ability to carry appropriate risk when it was necessary to unlock projects of national significance. With this flexibility, the NAIF has accelerated its commitments and broadened its portfolio across critical minerals, renewable energy, transport, logistics, water infrastructure, education and social infrastructure.

Recent annual reports and quarterly updates show a clear trajectory of delivery: over $4.3 billion committed across 32 projects, as I mentioned; forecast public benefit between $33 billion and $38 billion; over 18,000 jobs supported across the north; multiple loans already fully repaid, proving the recyclability of the NAIF model; and hundreds of millions deployed each financial year as projects reach major milestones. The 2023-24 annual report of the NAIF highlighted more than half a billion dollars in approved loans in that year alone, generating billions in projected public benefit. The project pipeline remains strong and includes major critical minerals developments, renewable energy hubs and key logistics corridors. This is direct, measurable, place based progress.

One of the NAIF's most important contributions is its integration of First Nations participation into every project. Every proponent must develop an Indigenous engagement strategy outlining commitments for employment, procurement, training and community benefit. This has delivered real outcomes across the north—more than 1,000 First Nations jobs supported; more than 190 Indigenous businesses engaged; and tens of millions spent on Indigenous procurement, scholarships, training pathways and mentoring programs linked to NAIF-supported project activity.

Case studies demonstrate this impact vividly, from scholarship programs in Townsville to pathways in Western Australia's Mid West region. These are significant long-term workforce and capability investments that strengthen communities and deliver economic inclusion. The renewed 10-year mandate in this bill will allow NAIF to deepen this focus, including expanded pathways for traditional owner organisations to be project proponents or co-investors where this is appropriate.

I want to go next to securing our economic transition and supply chains. Northern Australia is central to our future, and it is the nation's engine room for critical minerals, agriculture, resources and renewable energy opportunities. Extending NAIF ensures that patient capital is available to projects that derisk private investment in these areas of critical minerals processing and clean energy generation but also important transmission infrastructure, export capacity expansion and enabling infrastructure for new industries. This support is essential for Australia's industrial transformation and our ability to strengthen sovereign capability.

We're building resilient communities where people want to live. The north's economic future depends on its liveability, and this means investing in airports, in education precincts, in health facilities, in digital infrastructure and in community services. NAIF's track record supporting universities, like Charles Darwin University in my electorate, airport expansions, community facilities and regional services highlights the importance of social infrastructure to population growth, to workforce retention and to long-term regional sustainability. This 10-year extension will provide the certainty required for councils, universities and local developers to plan multi-year precincts and community anchoring projects.

We're partnering with First Nations to co-design prosperity. A longer horizon creates the space for deeper First Nations participation and long-term planning. This includes pathways for equity participation by traditional owner entities; stronger procurement and employment commitments; sustainable capability building, and capacity building for that matter; alignment between NAIF investments and local community priorities. The 10-year extension allows for long-term partnerships rather than short-term transactions.

The government has introduced legislation to extend NAIF's investment period by 10 years, supported by modernised governance arrangements, including, but not limited to, joint ministerial responsibility, regular statutory reviews in 2029, then 2034 and beyond, strengthened alignment with national strategic policies. Earlier independent reviews found there was strong support from government, industry and regional communities for NAIF's continuation. The five-year review cycle will ensure that NAIF remains contemporary, accountable and fit for purpose. Combined with a refreshed investment mandate, these arrangements maintain the right balance between independence, oversight and strategic direction. What another decade enables is a practical agenda, providing certainty for long-term projects and ensuring strong accountability.

I want to focus on five things it will enable. The first is critical minerals and clean energy precincts, with the enabling infrastructure—power, water, transport and common-user facilities—needed to support processing and value-adding in Australia. The second is transport and logistics corridors, which means ports, intermodals, airports and roads that reduce freight costs and strengthen Australia's competitiveness. Way back when NAIF started there was an opportunity to do that with the Darwin port, using NAIF to help an Australian proponent. But I won't digress. The third is water security and climate resilience, which requires resilient infrastructure capable of withstanding cyclones, flooding and climate pressures, including modern water systems and nature-positive remediation projects. That's something very close to my heart. The fourth is social infrastructure that anchors population. That is health, education, community housing and digital backbone investments that attract people and talent to the north, not only through jobs but through helping to anchor that workforce in the north. The fifth is greater First Nations enterprise participation, involving the expansion of Indigenous engagement requirements into long-term capability and ownership opportunities.

Extending the NAIF is also about national resilience. Northern Australia is a strategic region for our country, central to our relationships in the Indo-Pacific—South-East Asia, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific countries themselves. But we are uniquely exposed to climate impacts, as are being experienced across the north right now. Strong infrastructure—ports, roads, grids and water systems—strengthens national security, humanitarian response capability and economic sovereignty. NAIF is a vehicle that helps to deliver that infrastructure responsibly, patiently and in line with our national priorities.

NAIF was established with bipartisan support and has been extended and strengthened under successive governments of both sides of the chamber. That continuity has enabled projects across Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and the Indian Ocean Territories to grow with confidence. The proposed 10-year extension continues this tradition of national interest above politics. The rehabilitation of the Mount Morgan site illustrates NAIF's value—a complex legacy project now supporting hundreds of jobs, delivering environmental benefits and producing critical minerals essential for a clean energy future. University expansions, airport upgrades that are desperately needed across the north and Indigenous procurement successes further reinforce how NAIF's investments shape vibrant communities, not just balance sheets. These are the human stories behind the spreadsheets—stories of regions revived, opportunities created and communities strengthened.

Extending NAIF's mandate for another decade, as well as the additional $2 billion that have been put into it in recent times, is a clear-eyed investment in Australia's future. It supports vital economic infrastructure in the north, it strengthens regional communities in the north, it advances First Nations participation in the north, it catalyses private investment and it enhances national resilience for our whole country. A stronger north means a stronger nation. Let's extend the NAIF for another 10 years, put billions more into it and continue building the infrastructure of a secure, prosperous, strengthened and inclusive Australia.

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

I'd like to start by thanking members for their contribution to this debate on the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment Bill 2026, particularly the Special Envoy for Defence, Veterans' Affairs and Northern Australia and the member for Solomon, my good friend Mr Gosling. We were elected in 2016. He has been a strong fighter for the north, and I thank him for his support.

I thank all members for their contributions. I note with sadness that of the 14 members of the Nationals in the chamber of the House of Representatives, only one was able to speak on the NAIF, and that was the former leader. I thank the former leader of the Nationals, the member for Maranoa, for his support of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility and also, of course, northern Australia. I was also elected at the same time as the member for Maranoa, and he's always been very productive in our discussions across a range of issues. I note only one member of the Liberal Party, the member for Durack, managed to speak on the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility bill before the parliament. I note that a number of projects are in her electorate, and she is a regular at the opening of these projects that are very important to her community and indeed to the whole of Western Australia. Before I continue with my speech, I welcome the coalition's support for the bill before the parliament that was confirmed by the former leader of the National Party in the main chamber earlier this week, and I trust that nothing has changed with the new leadership in the coalition partner. No doubt I'll hear about that if it has.

The Australian government is committed to driving economic development in northern Australia in a stable, reliable and accountable way. The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment Bill 2026 delivers practical and targeted updates to the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Act 2016. It ensures the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility remains fit for purpose and capable of supporting transformational projects across the north well into the next decade. The amendments to the NAIF Act will extend NAIF's investment decision-making period for another decade, strengthen accountability for compliance with the investment mandate, establish joint responsibilities for the responsible ministers—myself and the Minister for Finance—in accordance with standard practice for the Commonwealth's specialist investment vehicles and it will refresh statutory review requirements to allow for two future reviews of the operation of the NAIF Act.

The continuation of NAIF's investment period through to 2036 responds directly to the findings of the statutory review of 2024. This will preserve NAIF's capacity to continue promoting transformational projects across northern Australia and provide long-term certainty to investors and communities. These projects create jobs and new economic opportunities for communities across the north. The amendments introduce new mechanisms requiring the NAIF board to notify the responsible ministers when NAIF or a subsidiary fails to comply with the investment mandate. These mechanisms empower the responsible ministers to direct corrective action where necessary while confirming their inadvertent noncompliance does not invalidate transactions. These measures align NAIF with other Commonwealth specialist investment vehicles and bolster its governance framework.

The bill updates several provisions to reflect contemporary governance arrangements by adding the Minister for Finance as a responsible minister. The addition of the finance minister to the ministerial responsibilities outlined in several places throughout the act will ensure an appropriate level of oversight and accountability and is consistent with arrangements for all of the Commonwealth's specialist investment vehicles. The bill also provides for two future reviews of the NAIF Act, after 30 June 2029 and 30 June 2034, ensuring structured and timely evaluation throughout the extended investment horizon of the NAIF. The second of these reviews will include consideration of whether the investment timeframe of the NAIF should again be extended.

This government is committed to transitioning Australia's energy sector to net zero by 2050 and the reduction of Australia's emissions by 43 per cent by 2030. NAIF has a key role in contributing to this objective. In 2023 I issued NAIF with a new investment mandate which includes a list of government policy priorities to which NAIF is expected to contribute through its investments. Among these is a priority to support sustainability, climate change and circular economy principles and solutions in northern Australia.

In relation to the bill, I want to draw one particular project to the attention of the House, and that is in relation to the Perdaman urea project under construction at the moment in Karratha in Western Australia. This is a really important project and a matter of important and critical national resilience in a time of conflict in the Middle East. It will provide important and stable supply chains for farmers into the future for all the agricultural industries and the work they do which is required to feed Australia and our regional neighbours. Importantly, the Perdaman urea project will decrease our dependency on the importation of urea for fertiliser. Urea is the nitrogen in NPK, and many of those in rural communities will understand what NPK fertiliser is—in fact, many gardeners would as well. It is really very important to the food and fibre that this nation creates. It will be Australia's largest urea plant. It will produce 2.3 million tonnes per annum. About half of that will be kept in Australia to ensure that we have that secure supply chain and that farmers have the fertiliser they need that will strengthen national food security and reduce reliance on imported fertilisers.

The Perdaman urea project is one of the largest downstream processing and manufacturing investments in Australian history, and it will solidify our supply chains. NAIF has supported a number of projects contributing to this: a $220 million loan to Perdaman to build this plant and kickstart the new multibillion-dollar fertiliser industry, a $160 million loan to the Pilbara Ports Authority for a new multi-user wharf and facilities at the Port of Dampier, and a $95 million loan to the Water Corporation of Western Australia for the expansion of the Burrup seawater supply and brine disposal scheme. This total $475 million federal commitment to the project and supporting infrastructure will see an estimated $8.5 billion in public benefit. It is a remarkable project. At a time where we are seeing constraints on the export of urea through the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, knowing that this project will start production in March of next year will be very reassuring for Australian farmers into the future.

This bill strengthens the legislative foundation of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility. It enhances accountability and provides certainty to investors and project proponents. It ensures NAIF remains a reliable partner in delivering the long-term infrastructure necessary to grow northern Australia. It is a practical, measured and future focused package of reforms. It makes sure that a strong north will contribute to a very strong Australia. I thank all members once again for their contributions, and I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.