NAIF HELPS THE NORTH

RECENT criticism of the $5bn Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility misses the fact that NAIF investment has already and will continue to benefit North Queensland.

It is on the public record that NAIF has approved loans to five key projects in the Townsville region worth more than $230m, which together will create or support more than 1300 jobs.

It has been noted that $374.8m has been “drawn down” from the facility, but this is erroneous analysis at best, and deliberate misinformation at worst.

The truth is that $3.1bn has been approved for projects either under way or planned across Northern Australia.

Under the loans’ terms, the proponents don’t receive the whole loan at once, they draw the money down as construction milestones are reached.

In April, NAIF provided the Townsville Bulletin with a detailed brief of successful funding applications, which was published.

The projects that have been completed and that are planned thanks to NAIF loans are:

• North Queensland Cowboys’ Community, Training and High-performance Centre ($20m).

• James Cook University, loans to support the construction of the Technology Innovation Complex (up to $98m) and new student accommodation ($46m). • Mater Hospital ($19.8m). • Townsville Airport redevelopment ($50m).

In the broader Townsville region, NAIF is also supporting critical energy infrastructure investments such as Genex’s Kidston pumped hydro facility 270km northwest of the city and Copperstring2.0.

Genex was the beneficiary of NAIF’S largest investment to date of $610m, while Copperstring 2.0 is currently in NAIF’S due diligence phase.

There is also up to $71m approved for Agripower Australia for expansion of an integrated fertiliser company at Charters Towers and Conjuboy near Greenvale.

NAIF also has a significant book of project investments under consideration worth over $2bn, including The Ville Casino Resort expansion.

It is critical the NAIF board positions contain a diverse mix of members, and most importantly representatives from the geographic north of Australia. Queensland appointments to fill the two vacant board positions are very close to being finalised.

Senator Susan Mcdonald is based in Townsville and is the Special Envoy for Northern Australia