PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Australian government was hoping that renewed focus on the country’s northern region would unlock significant resource and energy potential.
Resources, Energy and Northern Australian Minister Josh Frydenberg said on Friday that Northern Australia represented 40% of the country’s land mass, but only 5% of its population.
“It is home to an abundance of energy and resources with 70% of the nation's iron-ore, lead, zinc and silver deposits and 90% of the country's gas reserves, including Australia's two largest construction projects, the A$70-billion Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, in Western Australia, and the A$50-billion Ichthys LNG facility, in Darwin.”
Frydenberg pointed out that there were already some 17-million hectares of arable land in Northern Australia with 60% of the nation's rainfall of which only 2% is captured.
“The potential to further irrigate the north with new water infrastructure is enormous. And there are three internationally ranked universities and many world-class tourist spots in the north, like the Great Barrier Reef and Uluru, which will continue to attract millions of students and tourists alike from the growing middle classes in Asia.
“It is unambiguously clear that the potential of our north is as big as the land itself.”
Frydenberg said on Friday that it was with this in mind that the federal government in 2015 released the first Northern Australia White Paper with more than 50 initiatives across 15 different agencies worth over A$1.2-billion.
Since the release of the White Paper, significant progress had been made to cultivate investment in the region, with the government establishing the A$5-billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, which would provide concessional loans to build economic infrastructure in energy, water, transport and communications.
The facility was on track to be operational by July this year.
Exposure draft legislation was also released earlier this week, which would see an independent board made up of financial and infrastructure specialists assess a range of projects.
These could include the Mt Isa to Tennant Creek railway, the Townsville port expansion, an upgrade to Cairns Airport and the expansion of the Outback Way linking Western Australia to Queensland.
Frydenberg said that government provision of long-term patient capital, at more competitive rates than commercial lending, could help leverage existing private and state funding to get these greenfield and brownfield projects under way.
Furthermore, the government was putting in place the infrastructure necessary to assist potential investors in their decision-making.
The headquarters of the Office of Northern Australia had now been established in Darwin and were co-located with a Major Projects Approval Agency office to help investors cut through red tape.
The Darwin office would also be staffed with representatives from state and territory governments to promote information sharing and collaboration.
Besides the resources sector, the government’s focus was also aimed at cultivating investment in the food and agricultural sectors, with a number of initiatives being undertaken in this regard, including investment in key transport infrastructure, research collaboration and feasibility studies for key water infrastructure projects.
“It's a very exciting time in Australia's north. With unprecedented levels of commonwealth expenditure across a range of different areas, unprecedented levels of interest from foreign investors and with the booming middle-classes of Asia ready to consume the agriculture, tourism, education and energy resources produced in Australia's north, the government stands ready to drive this agenda forward,” Frydenberg said.