Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to acknowledge Senator O'Sullivan's continual commitment to north Australia. Our government has implemented 31 out of the 51 north Australia white paper recommendations, and the remainder are well underway. Out of the $500 million National Water Infrastructure Development Fund, $40.5 million has actually been allocated to 16 programs that are currently being assessed. We have the $5 billion NAIF, which is going to be able to provide funds and a real injection into the economy by partnering the private sector with the various state governments and the Commonwealth to ensure that we provide concessional loans to major projects.

That NAIF pipeline is going very well. There are 57 active inquiries. Five are up to the due diligence stage, and there are 16 at the assessment stage. We know that infrastructure is absolutely essential to deliver outcomes. We've got the best prices we've ever had in the cattle industry. We are just recovering from the political decisions of those opposite. We are going really well in the market, but you need to connect opportunities with the market—and what we need to connect opportunities are, of course, roads. That's what we have to build. We have got $700 million in roads—$300 million to Queensland, and $200 million each to the Northern Territory government and Western Australia. This is an absolutely fantastic investment. The real legacy is buying local—

An opposition senator: Buying local!