North marching forward

THE development of Northern Australia has been deemed a success by the Northern Australia Oversight Committee’s third annual report.

Committee chair Senator Ian Macdonald confirmed in the report that more than 90 per cent of the key measures listed in the Northern Australia White Paper had either been completed or were well on the way to finalisation.

“It has been a landmark achievement of our government,” he said. “The committee is delighted to report that key White Paper measures including the Beef Roads Program, the Northern Australia Roads of Priority, the Co-operative Research Centre for Northern Australia and the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, that total $5.75 billion in value to Northern Australia, are all making excellent progress.

“As this report shows, the development of Northern Australia has been, and continues to be, an unmitigated success. We have made great progress and it’s an outstanding result.

“There is unlimited potential for the continuous development of North Queensland and the committee urges the Government to focus on new approaches to ensure that the North lives up to its true potential. And with new funding like the $1.5 billion Northern Australia component of the Roads of Strategic Importance program, the pace of development in Northern Australia is only going to keep increasing.”