Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Shadow Treasurer) | Link to this | Hansard source

Northern Australia is not a distant frontier; it is central to Australia's prosperity, security and future growth. That is why the coalition supports the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment Bill 2026, extending the NAIF for a further 10 years from 30 June 2026 to 30 June 2036.

The coalition established the NAIF in 2016 because we recognised the enormous economic contribution of northern Western Australia and the wider north. Northern Australia covers more than half the continent but is home to just 5.1 per cent of all Australians, yet it produces well above its population share through mining, energy, agriculture, tourism, logistics and exports. In Western Australia, that contribution is unmistakeable. The Pilbara is one of the great economic powerhouses of the world. Its ports, mines, gas fields, roads, airports and energy systems help drive Australia's export income and national prosperity. The Kimberley is rich in agriculture, pastoral production, tourism, aquaculture, resources and First Nations culture. From Broome to Kununurra, it carries enormous potential but also enormous infrastructure challenges. That is why the NAIF matters so much.

Since its establishment, the NAIF has helped bridge financing gaps and deliver infrastructure projects that might otherwise never proceed. It has supported projects across agriculture and water, energy, resources, transport and, importantly, social infrastructure. As at December 2025, the NAIF had supported 33 projects backed by $4.3 billion in commitments. Those projects are forecast to generate $33 billion in public benefit—around $7.60 for every dollar of NAIF finance—and support more than 18,000 jobs across northern Australia.

The independent review into the NAIF confirmed what regional communities already know: the NAIF is trusted, effective and regarded as a highly valued institution. Stakeholders describe it as part of the northern Australia ecosystem, with the review's first recommendation being that the NAIF continue permanently. This bill does not go that far, unfortunately, but a 10-year extension provides certainty—and certainty is exactly what northern Western Australia needs.

In the Kimberley, the infrastructure task is urgent. Roads are the lifeline of the north. The Great Northern Highway connects communities, freight, mining, agriculture and tourism across the Kimberley. But it was only three years ago when ex-tropical-cyclone Ellie tore through Australia's north, showing everyone across Australia just how vulnerable infrastructure can be when the Fitzroy Crossing bridge, one of Australia's major road freight connections, was significantly damaged, cutting off east Kimberley from the west Kimberley and disrupting communities, supply chains and businesses across the region. That was a stark reminder that resilient infrastructure is not optional in northern Australia. We need stronger roads, we need better bridges and we need more flood-resilient freight corridors that can withstand the severe weather events that regularly impact northern Australia.

Telecommunications remain another major and consistent challenge for northern communities. Across the Kimberley, digital connectivity affects business, health, education, emergency services and tourism. Many communities still rely on unreliable satellite connections, while some residents need multiple mobile providers simply to maintain coverage across the region. That is not good enough in modern Australia. These are standards that would be unacceptable in parts of our southern continent, so why should they be acceptable across the northern part of our continent? Reliable telecommunications are essential for remote health care, online learning, tourism operators, precision agriculture, small businesses and emergency services.

Housing, of course, is also becoming a major barrier to growth. In Broome and across the Kimberley, housing shortages make it harder for businesses, harder for schools and harder for health services to attract workers. In the Pilbara, limited housing supply and high costs are constraining economic growth and making it harder to transition workers from FIFO arrangements into permanent regional communities.

The Pilbara also demonstrates why strategic infrastructure investment matters. Port Hedland remains the world's largest bulk export port. Karratha Airport and Port Hedland International Airport are critical economic and emergency links. The region's iron ore, LNG and critical mineral industries underpin Australia's economy and will continue to play a critical role in driving our national growth, driving our export income and driving energy security today and for the decades to come.

But sustaining that strength requires continued investment in roads, ports, airports, reliable energy infrastructure, worker accommodation and training facilities. The NAIF is designed for exactly this purpose—to unlock private investment, reduce financing barriers and deliver long-term public benefit. The coalition support this bill because we believe in northern Australia. We support it because we believe in the Kimberley and the Pilbara, and we support it because when northern Western Australia is strong, indeed the whole nation is strong.

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, the NAIF, is something we should be talking about—and, whilst the minister's here, I note we should also be talking about trade. I, unfortunately, couldn't attend the Trade 2040 Taskforce because the bells were ringing.

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) | Link to this | Hansard source

Would you like a copy of my speech?

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd love a copy of your speech, Minister. Thank you very much to you and your team for putting on that event.

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) | Link to this | Hansard source

We did attempt to delay proceedings, but the bells kept ringing.

Slade Brockman (WA, Deputy-President) | Link to this | Hansard source

Order!

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

They did. Congratulations to the Trade 2040 Taskforce as well for all their work.

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll pass that on.

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you. Of course, that's very intimately tied with the bill I'm speaking on, Deputy President—the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment Bill 2026—so thank you very much for your indulgence.

I congratulate the three panellists who undertook the 2024 Independent review of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Act 2016, and I'll put their names on the record. They are the Hon. Warren Snowdon, who of course represented the Northern Territory for many years in this place; Professor Peter Yu; and Dr Lisa Caffery. I put on the record my thanks to them, in terms of the independent review which they undertook. I also put on the record my thanks to the secretariat, who supported them in that process, and also members of the department. I thought it was a quality review, and, as someone who's now speaking in relation to the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility and its future, I found it very informative and very helpful in terms of assessing the success—and it has been a success—of the NAIF.

I also want to associate myself with the remarks of my good friend Senator Dean Smith. He made a point, which is absolutely true: when north Australia prospers, Australia prospers. It's a fact. There's no doubt about it. I note I have fellow senators from Queensland in the chamber and I'm sure they would agree that, when northern Australia prospers, Australia prospers. So we should do everything we possibly can to unleash the potential of northern Australia, and I think NAIF does exactly that.

I note that, in the course of the review, the reviewers engaged in 85 targeted meetings, had six site visits and met with 83 different entities, so they actually undertook quite a considerable workload in terms of constructing the recommendations and observations that were made in the review. There were a few thoughts in the review that I thought resonated with me. The first was a question that one of the stakeholders posed in relation to the role of NAIF in terms of providing bridging finance to potential projects. That the difference between a project getting up and running or not getting up and running; NAIF actually bridges that gap and makes a difference. The question posed was: if not the NAIF, then who? That's a really important question. If we didn't have the NAIF, who would be performing that function in terms of bridging the gap and providing that additional loan on concessional terms, after having undergone due diligence and done all the things we expect before the taxpayers' money is advanced in this respect? If not the NAIF, then who? The answer to that question is nobody, because there's no institution of government that was performing this role before the creation of the NAIF. And I want to place on record my appreciation for the work that Senator Canavan did when he was Minister for Northern Australia, including in relation to the NAIF.

The second point that resonated with me—and which underpins the amendment that was moved by my colleague Senator Susan McDonald from Queensland—is that the most significant recommendation contained in this review document, recommendation 1, was:

The government remove the existing time limit to allow the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) to make Investment Decisions in perpetuity.

The review taskforce recognise the importance of NAIF, but they also recognise the limitations involved in NAIF only being established to work to a five-year timeline, or, as is proposed under this amending legislation, a 10-year timeframe. The reviewers were quite adamant—it was their No. 1 recommendation; it was their most significant recommendation—that NAIF should be enabled, or empowered, to operate in perpetuity. From my perspective, that makes a lot of sense, because I also think we should have a situation—and the reviewers touched upon this as well—where the NAIF actually recycles loan funds. That is the term used. Like a bank, the NAIF lends to a project. It gets repaid in relation to those concessional loans that have been made, and then that money comes back to NAIF to be reinvested in the next project and so on and so forth. I think there's a lot of merit in that, as opposed to, when the repayment of a loan is made, it goes into consolidated revenue and, maybe, the NAIF gets something in the future. I think that would be a way to empower the NAIF, and it's one of the recommendations that was made by the independent reviewers, so I do compliment them in relation to that.

We're talking about the reason we have the NAIF. Some of the facts that were put on the record in the review were quite startling. Northern Australia represents half of Australia's landmass. It's home to 1.5 million people—5.1 per cent of Australia's population—but it's an economic powerhouse in terms of producing GDP per capita in that region. Northern Australia supports more than 100,000 businesses that employ more than 639,000 Australians. The GRP, Gross Regional Product, is much greater than the per capita rates for the rest of the country. Northern Australia is a powerhouse, and the NAIF is helping it to unleash that power.

The review also touches upon the challenges faced by businesses, entrepreneurs and communities that are trying to get projects off the ground in northern Australia. I'm sure Senator Green, from my home state of Queensland, would be well aware of that, based, as she is, in Cairns. These include prolonged underinvestment in critical infrastructure, the high costs of delivery, the limited available workforce and extreme seasons. The costs of doing business are higher in northern Australia, and that's one of the reasons why we need the NAIF.

The NAIF has invested $4.4 billion to support 32 projects so far. But those projects, and that $4.4 billion, have led to $38.2 billion in public benefit. Just think about that: eight times the public benefit for that investment of $4.4 billion through largely concessional loans that will be repaid to the NAIF. So it makes a lot of sense. Due to the NAIF, 19,500 jobs have been created across northern Australia, and that includes jobs for 1,200 First Nations people who, of course, represent a greater percentage of the population in northern Australia than in the rest of Australia.

I'll give you one example of a transformative project that is being supported by NAIF in my home state of Queensland. I come from the mining industry, so I'm passionate about the mining industry. I'm also passionate about undertaking projects which revisit old mines which have been left, including tailings, which is the waste from the mining processes, rehabilitating those old mine sites and obtaining economic benefit in the process. A project which the NAIF is supporting with a $66 million concessional loan is the Mount Morgan Tailings Reprocessing and Rehabilitation Project, which is being undertaken by Heritage Minerals. Just think about this. Mount Morgan was one of the most outstanding gold mines in the whole world. If you go to Rockhampton, you see the beautiful architecture in Rockhampton. A lot of it was the result of wealth that was generated from the Mount Morgan mine. Aa hugely successful mine; hundreds of tonnes of gold were produced from the Mount Morgan mine.

With this concessional loan of up to $66 million, Heritage Minerals—and I congratulate the team at Heritage Minerals for undertaking this project—will go in and they'll treat the tailings, the waste from previous mining operations from, say, 100 years ago. They'll extract the gold that's still there in that waste, because processing techniques have improved. Through that extraction, they'll generate a profit for themselves and their shareholders, but they'll also generate a public benefit of $849 million for the people in the Rockhampton region. So they'll remediate an old mine site, obtain economic benefit out of what was previously considered waste through the best technology available, and generate that community benefit for regional Queensland. It is a win-win-win. A win-win for the community, a win for the environment and a win for the shareholders of that company. That is exactly what we're looking for.

I'm delighted to speak in support of the NAIF. I'm delighted to speak on behalf of the people of Queensland to support the amendment which was proposed by my good friend Senator McDonald. I know that there are quite a few Queensland senators in the chamber, which is always good to see—we've nearly got a majority in the chamber at the moment. I'm delighted to support the amendment that the NAIF be in perpetuity. As I started this speech, I'll end it: when northern Australia prospers, Australia prospers.

Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Tourism) | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to start by thanking senators for their contribution to this debate on the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment Bill 2026. I'll keep my comments brief because I know there are more amendments for us to work our way through this morning.

The Australian government is committed to driving economic development in northern Australia in a stable, reliable and accountable way, and this bill delivers practical and targeted updates to the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Act 2016. It ensures that the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility remains fit for purpose and capable of supporting transformational projects across the north well into the next decade. There are a range of amendments that this bill takes us through—extending NAIF's investment decision-making period for another 10 years, strengthening accountability and compliance, establishing joint responsibilities for the ministers of northern Australia and finance and refreshing the statutory review requirements so we can keep that accountability as part of the system. The continuation of the investment period through to 2036 responds directly to the findings of the review that Senator Scarr spoke to. This will preserve NAIF's capacity to continue promoting transformational projects across northern Australia and provide long-term certainty to investors and communities.

This bill strengthens the legislative foundations of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, enhances accountability, provides certainty to investors and project proponents, ensures that NAIF remains a reliable partner in delivering the long-term infrastructure necessary to grow northern Australia. It's a practical, measured and future focused package of reforms. I've seen with my own eyes the real transformational effects and economic benefits that the NAIF has had in northern Australia—and will continue to have over the next 10 years if this bill is passed. I think, genuinely, if you are a supporter of the people of northern Australia and the NAIF, then you will support this bill. I thank the Senate, and I commend the bill to the Senate.

Sue Lines (President) | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the second reading amendment as moved by Senator Roberts be agreed to.

Sue Lines (President) | Link to this | Hansard source

The question now is that the second reading be agreed to.