Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a great honour to rise to sum up the debate on the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Bill 2016 and Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2016. As someone resident in northern Australia, I am very passionate and excited about what these bills and what the government's broader agenda to develop northern Australia can achieve.

I want to thank all the contributors to this debate. It has been fantastic to be here. I have been able to be here for most of the debate to listen to many others in this chamber speak passionately about the development of the North. When I had the honour of coming into this portfolio, one of the first things I said was that I want this to be bipartisan. This should be a nation-building exercise. This should be an exercise which we attempt to do as a nation and commit to do over many decades. I am sure that over those many decades there will be governments of different colours and varieties, and as long as we are all supporting this agenda and moving in the same direction we can actually implement a lot over that time frame.

I thought Senator Xenophon might find a way to speak for something like 10 or 12 minutes about southern Australia in a bill about northern Australia, but he is absolutely right to point out that this is in the league of other great nation-building initiatives that we as a country and that this parliament has taken in the past. Whether it be developing interstate railways, the Snowy Mountains Scheme or other initiatives that have often been geographically focused, the Commonwealth government, in partnership with state governments and the private sector, has over our 115-year history as a country done a lot to develop specific areas of our country and leave a great legacy for future generations. These bills are in the same genre, the same pattern, of economic development and of nation-building infrastructure that we would like to build—in this case for northern Australia because we see the unique opportunities that that part of our country does provide.

As other speakers have outlined, together these bills will provide $5 billion in concessional finance to deliver this transformative infrastructure. They will accelerate the development of the North, open up new market opportunities, reduce costs for businesses, create jobs, encourage a larger population base and create an environment that will enable further infrastructure investment. The investment will ensure that the government does its job in providing the basic infrastructure that farmers, miners and other individuals can use to make their investments and create even more jobs and more industries. These bills are a key part of our agenda to build on our country's strengths and create more jobs and new opportunities for all Australians. There is no lack of opportunities in the North, but there is a lack of infrastructure, and these bills are specifically designed to help fill that gap.

It has been a great privilege to assist the Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia, the Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP, with the passage of these bills through the parliament. I would also like to recognise the other contributors, both in this chamber and in the other place, to the development of that agenda and these bills specifically. We had a joint parliamentary inquiry last year and the Pivot north report, which identified a range of opportunities for the North, that many members of this place were involved with. Earlier this year we had an Infrastructure Australia audit report. Many of the projects identified in that audit report are potential projects that could be funded by this facility. I should recognise—through you, Madam Acting Deputy President—Senator Heffernan, who has walked into the chamber for question time. It is nice to see you here, Senator Heffernan, for question time. He also was integral, particularly through the Land and Water Taskforce, in reporting on the opportunities existing in the North that have led to this particular government decision.

These bills were tabled in the parliament in mid-March after an exposure draft of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Bill was released in late January. Some speakers have mentioned that it has taken too long. We make no apologies for making sure we had an extensive consultative process for this. The bill has been out for consultation since January. It then went to draft, a draft was released and, of course, we had a parliamentary inquiry as well. I would like to thank those committee members who reported on that. The committee has recommended the passage of the bills. There was only one recommendation: to pass the bills. However, following further consultation with that committee and other stakeholders in Western Australia, we are proposing a minor amendment to the definition of 'northern Australia', which has been circulated in this chamber. The amendment brings the definition of the Western Australian part of northern Australia into line with some of the practices we have approached on the eastern side. We will be bringing in parts of the north-west of Western Australia which are below the Tropic of Capricorn but connected to those places above the Tropic of Capricorn, just as we have done with Alice Springs in the Northern Territory and Gladstone in Queensland. It is important to recognise, too, that after some lobbying from the local member, Ms Melissa Price, we have also included the local government areas of Meekatharra and Wiluna, and not just the larger centre of Carnarvon, which is below the Tropic of Capricorn.

Also, as noted in these bills, we will be releasing an investment mandate that will seek to guide the board of the facility about what its duties are in making these investments. We have put that out for consultation as well and have met with 55 stakeholders and communicated with a further 20 on Indigenous-specific issues. We will be releasing the final mandate soon. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, but there will be some minor changes as a result of those consultations.

I welcome the bipartisan approach we have had to these bills. I note that they have received significant support around the chamber, although there will be some amendments moved later in this debate. I will expand on the government's position on those amendments at the appropriate time. I would like to say, though, that some of the amendments that have been flagged would impose a higher barrier to infrastructure that would be built in northern Australia compared to infrastructure that would be built in southern Australia. The point of these bills is of course to facilitate and encourage infrastructure to be developed in the North, so it would seem kind of strange that those who otherwise purport to support these bills would seek to impose higher regulatory burdens on infrastructure built in northern Australia than on infrastructure built in southern Australia.

In saying that, I am hopeful that these bills will pass and will succeed in delivering economic infrastructure for the North as part of our broader plan to develop northern Australia. I want to thank everyone in this chamber—including Senator Macdonald, who is not here yet—for their contribution to this broader agenda to develop northern Australia. It is a very exciting agenda for our country. It is something the government is committed to in order to deliver jobs and opportunity right through Australia. While these bills are focused on northern Australia and on delivering infrastructure which benefits northern Australia, the development of northern Australia is going to benefit all of Australia. We are all Australians here, and the things that benefit Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns, Kununurra or Carnarvon are ultimately going to be to the benefit of all of us. Given how much opportunity there is in the North, given how much potential there is to develop our land, water and other resources, there is enormous potential for this bill, if it is passed, to deliver massive benefits to the more than one million people who live in northern Australia but also to the Australians that live everywhere else around this country. I thank everybody who has contributed to this debate and commend this bill to the Senate.