Canavan happy to help
NORTH Australia Minister Matt Canavan has vowed to fight for any Townsville infrastructure project that “stacks up” as the Federal Government moves to consider two major projects crucial to the region.
Senator Canavan said the Government was “committed” to securing Townsville’s future as a port city but would await independent advice on business cases for the Port of Townsville channel widening and Townsville Eastern Access Rail Corridor projects.
“I haven’t been able to get across the business cases yet, but we will be briefed properly in the coming weeks and seeking advice from Infrastructure Australia,” he said. Senator Canavan said the $ 150 million committed to the TEARC project would be invested in infrastructure in Townsville.
“There’s no way we’d back away from that commitment, I know there’s a lot of talk about the Port, I can’t see we wouldn’t do both,” he said.
“I’d like to see both projects get funded.
“We’ve put aside $ 150 million to secure the future of Townsville as a port city ... we’ve also offered the potential of investment from the North Australia Infrastructure Facility.”
Earlier this month the Bulletin revealed the Federal Government considered the Port of Townsville channel widening project a “good candidate” for a NAIF loan.
However, Senator Canavan said he would not put a “ceiling” on the projects that could receive funding from the Federal Government.
“If it’s a good project that stacks up I’ll fight for anything ... I’m always willing to go into bat for good projects,” he said.
Senator Canavan said he believed a NAIF loan could suit the port project and would continue to have discussions with the port authority and other stakeholders.
“We need to just sit down and work it out,” he said.
Senator Canavan said he believed there were a number of “really exciting” projects in Townsville including the Hells Gate dam and Burdekin dam wall raising proposals.
“I caught up with some of the ( Hells Gate) consultants recently and it’s great to see they made good progress,” he said. “There are potential opportunities around hydro that weren’t previously on the radar.”