Senate debates

Wednesday, 20 June 2018

Questions without Notice

Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility

2:32 pm

Photo of Ian MacdonaldIan Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

In directing my question to the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, I thank him for his energy in the work he does towards the development of northern Australia. I ask the minister if he could update the Senate on the potential investments he is aware of that are being made under the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, the NAIF.

Photo of Matthew CanavanMatthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | | Hansard source

I thank Senator Macdonald for his question and would also like to place on record the long commitment of Senator Macdonald and the work that he has done to contribute to developing the North. Indeed, the agenda the government is prosecuting now—and this is the first time a government has had a white paper on northern Australia—owes a lot to the efforts of Senator Macdonald over many years.

It is exciting today that Genex Power has announced to the market that it has received an indicative term sheet from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility for a $516 million concessional loan to support the very large investment in energy in Far North Queensland at the former Kidston mine site. That project includes investments in pumped hydro, solar and wind which will create secure supplies for North Queensland. It will create 500 jobs in the construction phase. We very much welcome the strong commitment the NAIF has provided here and wish Genex all the best for the future of the project.

I should point out that the term sheet is conditional on a number of things, including agreements on the offtake of power and further equity discussions that Genex will try to progress this year. But this is a major project. Earlier this year, I announced changes to the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility's mandate. The announcement of the term sheet today is a direct result of those changes to provide the NAIF greater flexibility to make offers of this kind. I look forward to working with Genex, the NAIF and the Queensland government to progress these very important projects for North Queensland to secure their energy supplies and to provide hope for economic development and jobs, too.

Photo of Scott RyanScott Ryan (President) Share this | | Hansard source

Senator Macdonald, a supplementary question.

2:34 pm

Photo of Ian MacdonaldIan Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Again, I thank the minister for that very positive news on investments in northern Australia. I ask the minister: what impact will other investments in northern Australia have for, say, beef producers who, as the minister will know, form one of the biggest industries in northern Australia?

Photo of Matthew CanavanMatthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | | Hansard source

Senator Macdonald would know that part of the white paper on developing northern Australia is the reinvigorated beef roads program. We've put $100 million into 18 beef roads right across northern Australia. This is specifically targeted at saving the beef industry money. About 30 per cent of the cost of a steak, which you might order at the pub tonight or later this week, comes from transport costs. The more we can bring those down, the better for beef producers and the better for consumers too. That is reflected in the comments of beef producers. Clancy Middleton, a cattle producer in North Queensland, says: 'As producers, we've been on our knees in North Queensland. The sealing of these roads is a cost saving on average of $3.13 a head, and we move about 1.5 million head of cattle across this region. That puts nearly $5 million back into the pockets of farmers and businesses in the north.' This is a very important program that we are building upon. It's great to see it delivering benefits for the agricultural industry in the north.

Photo of Scott RyanScott Ryan (President) Share this | | Hansard source

Senator Macdonald, a final supplementary question.

2:35 pm

Photo of Ian MacdonaldIan Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Minister, what future investments in transport and roads will the government make to further expand benefits across northern Australia?

2:36 pm

Photo of Matthew CanavanMatthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | | Hansard source

We are not standing still. We are building on those investments we've already made in beef roads and northern Australian roads. In Western Australia I recently announced an additional $160 million to continue to seal the Outback Way. We've made a commitment to seal the Outback Way over the next decade. That's a stretch of road from Winton in western Queensland through to Laverton in Western Australia. Once it is sealed it will be only the third sealed route across our continent. It's a big country. It's great to see us investing in projects that help develop and connect our nation east-west, not just north-south.

We've also in the budget announced a further $1.5 billion for roads in northern Australia over the next decade under the Roads of Strategic Importance program. That will build on the work of the beef roads program and the Northern Australia Roads Program to invest in roads that can help boost the economic productivity of northern Australia, including in the agricultural sector and other sectors. I know that there are many people and councils here this week for their national conference who are very excited about these projects. We will continue to work with northern Australians for many years to help that part of the country.