Projects cash on way

Board rejects concerns over potential conflicts of interest

NORTHERN Australia Infrastructure Facility chief executive officer Laurie Walker says the organisation is on target to close its first transaction within the next three months.

Ms Laurie brushed off criticism of the organisation’s funding timeline, confirming the first deal was due to be finalised in the third quarter of 2017.

The $5 billion lending board has received 119 inquiries, with half of those 60 proposals classed as active located in Queensland.

Ms Walker said four transactions had passed through to the due diligence phase and all along the way, reputable, independent auditors had confirmed NAIF was operating at best practice.

She rejected the notion that NAIF was dragging the chain on getting money out the door, explaining the complexities of lending such a huge sum of money and ensuring it would be paid back.

“With a grant, it’s easier to just do a bit of an assessment and hand the money over,” she said.

“You don’t have to make sure you’re going to get it back.

“So it’s a very different beast.”

The organisation’s mandate further complicates matters, with any project having to prove real public benefit – not just economic sense – to qualify for funding.

“We are absolutely wanting to transform the north,” she said.

“We have focused on the positioning of the north relative to that growing middle class in Asia.

“We will look at smaller projects, which will have tremendous impact region.

“But we are also looking at transformative pieces of infrastructure which will catalyse that growth.

“Whether it’s power, communications, water or transport, the mandate is ‘transformation’.”

Ms Walker could not reveal in their specific projects due to commercial-in-confidence laws.

But she said having a proposal ready for funding in the third quarter of 2017 was a monumental achievement, considering the NAIF was only formed 11 months ago.

Ms Walker’s chief message was that NAIF was worth the wait, and taking the time to ensure only sound investments were made would pay off in the end.

“There is just so much potential in this mandate that we will realise,” she said.

“That’s the message we want people to get on board with.

“Do they actually understand how tremendous this mandate is?

“Because we do.”