Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the final report of the Joint Select Committee on Northern Australia, Pivot North: an inquiry into the development of Northern Australia, together with the minutes of the committee and I seek leave to move a motion in relation to the report.

Leave granted.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

In presenting the report, I first of all want to express my appreciation to my Senate colleagues on this side of the chamber, Senator Smith and Senator Canavan, for allowing me to present the report. Although I was not and am not a formal member of this committee, I did attend most of the hearings and meetings. The development of Northern Australia has been a passion of mine since I first came to this chamber some 24 years ago. Indeed, in my first speech, which coincidentally was given 24 years ago on this day next week, I made significant reference to the development of Northern Australia. In the six years prior to the election of the Abbott government, I was the coalition spokesman on Northern Australia and in that capacity travelled very widely, consulted very extensively and argued the case across the North—and indeed the rest of Australia—for a serious push to develop Northern Australia.

I also thank all the other senators and members of the House of Representatives for their contribution to this report. It is, you will note, a unanimous report of the committee: from the coalition, from the Labor Party and from the Greens. That is rather unusual—I might say unexpected—for an inquiry of this breadth with a lot of different issues. The committee worked well together to come to a conclusion that I think will be useful for the future. I particularly want to thank Warren Entsch, the chairman of the joint select committee. Warren is a personal friend of mine and a great Northern Australian. His passion for the North almost equals mine. I also want to mention, in addition to those senators who may well speak on this report, former Senators Sue Boyce and Alan Eggleston, both of whom were on the original committee but who retired from it when they left the Senate at the end of the last financial year.

The inquiry has formed one part of a broader process aimed at looking at ways to develop Northern Australia. The Australian government made a commitment to produce, within 12 months of the last election, a white paper outlining its vision for the future of Northern Australia. The committee's findings and recommendations will inform the white paper process, assisting the government to formulate its policy for the future development of Northern Australia.

The inquiry into the development of the North was greeted with a huge amount of enthusiasm and anticipation but also with some scepticism about possible outcomes. Since 1937 there have been numerous investigations, reports and recommendations aimed at developing Northern Australia which are gathering dust on shelves. It is now up to the government to prove the sceptics wrong and get things moving.

Indeed, as the Minister for Regional Services back in 2001, I started a process which got about to this stage but then faded away—and nothing happened. My colleagues and I are determined to ensure that the work done by this committee, and by other groups that have been formed around this effort, does actually come to fruition. I am disappointed that the process was a little delayed. As I said when I moved an amendment to the motion setting up this committee, it is my desire to ensure that something does in fact happen following this process.

The development of Northern Australia is one of the great challenges and opportunities facing the nation. Northern Australia covers over 40 per cent of Australia's land mass and generates something over 50 per cent of Australia's export earnings but contains less than five per cent of Australia's population. It has abundant land, water and mineral resources. It has medical and educational institutions with world class-facilities.

Northern Australia is on the doorstep of Asia and is part of the tropical world, part of the Torrid Zone which circles the globe between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. By 2050, the tropical world will be home to over half the world's population. There are great opportunities for the people of Northern Australia within the tropical zone. The development of the North has in the past lacked a commitment by governments at all levels to pursue investment and development in a consistent, sustainable and coordinated way.

The committee has made some 42 recommendations covering a wide range of important issues. There are seven priority recommendations and, given time, I will return to those later. The remaining recommendations include particular development proposals and measures to address opportunities for and overcome impediments to development. To realise the opportunities development could bring, the committee has made recommendations to establish a CRC for northern agriculture and to develop a national institute for tropical sports and sports medicine. The committee also recommended the exploration of new methods to better engage the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce. This is particularly significant given the large and growing proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Northern Australia. The committee has recommended the implementation of long-term strategies for the development of capital infrastructure and agriculture in Northern Australia. Those strategies will underpin the long-term growth and development that Northern Australia needs.

There are serious impediments to Northern Australia's development which must be addressed. To do this, the committee has recommended improved regulatory arrangements for aquaculture and better regulation of fisheries to enable sustainable growth of the industry. The report also addresses growing concerns over fly-in fly-out employment, calling for improved taxation arrangements to encourage local employment in the resources sector.

I am pleased that, with the change of the terms of reference, the committee was able to focus on other taxation matters and I am particularly pleased that the committee has addressed and made recommendations in relation to an upgrading of the zone tax rebate, which will be an important element in the further development of Northern Australia.

The main purpose of the committee's recommendations is to promote investment in and the liveability of Northern Australia. One major constraint that Australia faces is growing the population in the north. That is absolutely critical.

In presenting this report I also want to mention my thanks to the committee secretariat, who have done an absolutely magnificent job. The amount of information that has come in, been sorted through and been put into a readable form is enormous, and the committee, currently led by Ms Stephanie Mikac, previously by Peter Stephen and including secretaries Dr John Carter, Dr Bill Pender, Ms Loes Slattery, were magnificent. The administrative officers Emily Costello, Megan Pealy and Carissa Skinner have also been very helpful.

On behalf of the chair I would like to thank all those who contributed to the inquiry and those who gave evidence. A lot of it many of us have heard before, but it has now all been gathered into one very comprehensive if quite lengthy tome which has resulted from the inquiry. The committee undertook an extensive program of travel for public hearings and inspections and received, as I said, many valuable submissions.

I again thank all of those involved in the committee. Having me, Senator Siewert and Ms Alannah MacTiernan in the one room on the one committee would, some might say, pose challenges, but I am delighted to say that, although we obviously will disagree on some elements, by and large we are all dedicated to the sustainable development of the north. I hope that our comprehensive report in fact endorsed that.

I do not have time to go through any of the recommendations; I will have to save that for some other time. Thanks to those involved. Thanks to the secretariat. Thanks to all those who contributed. I commend the report to the Senate.

Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too would like to take note of this report. As Senator Macdonald said, having representation of the major parties and the Greens in this committee could, you would think, have challenges—and in fact it did—but I think we have worked well together to produce a report. It would be fair to say, wouldn't it, Senator Macdonald, that some of us have more support for some of the recommendations than others, but we were able to agree on the recommendations? We have, I suspect, a different vision for the north that involves perhaps not quite as much industrial development as some others, but we can agree on the parameters in which we need to be looking at the north in terms of development and what parameters need to be put in place.

We all agreed that development, infrastructure and things that go ahead in the north must be based on the principles of sustainability and must be subject to scientific assessment. For example, for infrastructure there is a set of parameters that we recommended, including that Infrastructure Australia reviews proposals for substantial investment in infrastructure. We all agreed that we needed to ensure that development proposals and other proposals for the north took into account the change in climate and that all planning processes included the development of adaptation and mitigation policies and strategies for Northern Australia. We also agreed on water resources. While I suspect there is a difference of opinion on which water resources should and could be developed, we did agree on a set of principles by which that development, if it is to go ahead, should occur, and that should be subject to scientific investigation and have access to the best scientific information.

We also, very importantly, all agreed, acknowledged and recognised as a committee that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have rights as traditional owners and/or native title holders over significant areas of Northern Australia both on land and at sea. In addition, the committee expressed its respect for the centrality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders' language and culture and acknowledged that any future development of Northern Australia will require the engagement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples not only as landowners but as participants and potentially partners and leaders in the development process. That was very important.

When we visited areas in the north, we did talk to a lot of Aboriginal land owners and native title holders and also some really good examples of really positive projects that Aboriginal communities own or Aboriginal people own and have developed. These are multimillion dollar companies. The Rusca Bros is one that sticks in my mind because of the way that they run their business. They focus on supporting Aboriginal youth, particularly into employment, and understand the need to provide wraparound services for those young people going into employment so that they can maintain a connection with that employment. We were provided with examples of where young people have come from lacking necessary numeracy and literacy skills to then engaging employment and maintaining employment, and then gaining the certifications needed to operate very heavy equipment. We were also shown a project where a $170 million contract to deliver some necessary road infrastructure was completed on time, and not only was it performed on time but also with the efficiencies to do extra work with the money that was available and, at the same time, train people.

I want to acknowledge Senator Macdonald's role in promoting this and recognising the significance of culture and the arts in the North and building that into the recommendations. He also acknowledged the importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and culture. You will find there is a recommendation about that as well.

Environmental sustainability was obviously another key area that I was particularly keen to make sure that we addressed. In the report we acknowledged areas that have the potential to impact negatively on the environment such as harbour dredging, the use of water, the development of water resources and mining developments. We also looked at conservation benefits.

We did not all agree 100 per cent to 100 per cent of the recommendations. We were a little bit nervous about some of the recommendations in the report, and different members of the committee were also nervous about them, but we do not want to repeat the development mistakes of Southern Australia in Northern Australia. We need to make sure that we do not destroy the environment in any further developments of the North. We need to acknowledge that there are already communities in the North that do need some support.

It is pointed out in the report—and Senator Macdonald touched on this—that they face a higher cost of living and they do not have access to the same education, health and social services that people in the major capital cities in the southern areas of Australia have access to. If we are to support a population, in particular the growing Aboriginal population—we know that Aboriginal populations are growing much faster than non-Aboriginal populations—we need to make sure that we invest in social infrastructure. We have also touched on those recommendations in the report. In terms of other Aboriginal recommendations, we have acknowledged the need to make sure that we enhance employment opportunities and work in partnership with communities.

I am looking forward to continuing the work in Northern Australia and working as part of the committee to look at how the white paper comes out and to look at what the government does to make sure that we do not repeat those mistakes and enhance the opportunities for those people already in the North, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. We did visit the Torres Strait Islands and gathered evidence there. I will say that there were a number of proposals from all over the North about development, some of which have more legs than others and some that are on the edge in terms of being sensible or viable. One of the projects I do think is really good is the proposal for renewable energy in the Torres Strait. We also built into this report the role for renewable energy in the development of the North.

I look forward to my continuing involvement in this report and working with my colleagues to see if we can continue to work together to see that any development that happens in the North meets the triple bottom line of being socially, environmentally and economically sensible. I commend the report to my colleagues and encourage them to read it.

Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too wish to be associated with the remarks on this pathfinding and, hopefully, 'path-breaking' report. I too want to give credit to Senator Macdonald who has been, as we have just heard, pushing this case for some time. He often makes the point that there are very few politicians from Northern Australia. He could probably give me the number, but there are not many out of the 226 in this place.

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Twelve.

Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Twelve. Thank you, Senator Macdonald. That is a fairly small proportion. We need people like Senator Macdonald pushing this case, because the only way we can bring somewhere like Northern Australia to the forefront of our debate is by people getting up and pushing it further. This report is another little step towards bringing the development of the North closer. It is starting to snowball. It is starting to get some momentum. This is another turn of the ball here with this report, and I very much hope, as Senator Macdonald said, that the government can now turn words into actions in the next year.

I do want to say that the development of the North should not be something that is of concern to Northern Australians. It is a national priority. It is something that we should all be behind, because too many Australians live in our capital cities—about 60 per cent of our population live in our top five cities. If you look over at the US, their top five cities account for somewhere between five per cent and 15 per cent of their population, depending on how you count their cities. So we are a very concentrated country and we do need to develop the frontiers of our nation.

We only have 16 cities in Australia that have more than 100,000 people, and three of the five youngest towns with more than 100,000 people are in Northern Australia: Cairns, Darwin and Townsville. Interestingly, they were all founded in the decade between 1865 and 1876. There is something significant about that decade. I am thankful that my colleague, Senator McKenzie, who is from Victoria, is here, because the coincidence is that they were founded just a few years after the Burke and Wills expedition of 1860 to 1861, which, of course, originated from her great state in the south of our nation.

One reason we were able to do the Burke and Wills expedition at that time—and it was a massive expedition at great cost—was that we had the wealth to do so. We had the wealth to do so thanks to the gold rush. The Victorian government took the decision to fund the expedition. I was reading a book about it recently. Apparently, there was some speculation that they funded the trip to try to annex north Queensland. That was their real aim. Thankfully, it was not successful, Senator Macdonald, otherwise we would all be playing AFL not rugby league. That did provide a great legacy because it opened up that part of our country. If you spend any time in that part of the world these days you are continuously reminded of the legacy of Burke and Wills. So many areas are named after Burke and Wills. The town of Cloncurry is named after Robert O'Hara Burke's cousin Lady Cloncurry.

We have just had the biggest terms of trade boom since the gold rush and we as a nation should be focusing on how we turn the wealth we have had in the last decade to a new frontier of wealth, as we did 150 years ago, to a new area of our nation. Then we will be able to look back in 20, 30 or 40 years at what we have done. This report is another step in helping to do that. We have amazing opportunities in northern Australia. Many of them are thanks to the development of Asia and the markets that exist over there.

I want to quickly relate a story to the Senate. I was lucky enough to be in Shanghai a few months ago and I enjoyed a very nice T-bone steak in a Shanghai hotel. That 300-gram steak cost A$110. I can tell you that our beef producers are not getting $330 a kilogram right now, but there is lots of money to be made there. There is a huge opportunity for our agricultural industries to take advantage of that demand and willingness to pay. I am very glad, therefore, that this report has identified some specific projects that can help our agricultural industry take advantage of those opportunities and take the next step.

Many water projects have been recommended by this report—and Senator Macdonald went through some before—such as in the Fitzroy Basin the Rookwood Weir and the Eden Bann Weir, the development of the Gulf, the Cave Hill dam, off stream storage near Richmond and other off stream projects that will be viable in the Gilbert and Flinders rivers. We need to invest in roads and ports as well because no farm is an island. They need to be connected to these markets in Asia, so there is a role for the government to make investment, to provide some funds, to help connect those new irrigation opportunities to ports so things can get to Asia—to Shanghai and to Tianjin—and all the places where people are willing to pay good money for our produce.

We hear a lot of talk about the potential for private investment to help with this development. There is no doubt that that will play a substantial role, but in my view that needs to be partnered with some public investment as well in the public infrastructure that governments should provide, such as roads, dams and ports. It is great to see that this inquiry has made such recommendations on all those areas of infrastructure.

I will conclude on water very briefly, so I can leave time for others to make remarks. I was fortunate when the coalition were in opposition to have some role in Senator Joyce's office—he is Minister Joyce now—developing our approach to dams. There is so much water in our north—60 per cent of our rainfall is in the north—but it is really important that we focus as a nation on using water where it falls. It is attractive to think that we can take the water in the north and bring it down here and develop places that are available, but that would be a mistake because water is very expensive to transport. It is very heavy and we do not have a lot of height in our country, so we need to focus on using water where it falls. That is why we should develop northern Australia and that is why I am very glad that this report has identified the areas that we can develop. I look forward to seeing the government response through their green paper and white paper, which I am sure will demonstrate a great and prosperous future for northern Australia.

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would also like to associate my comments with those of Senator Macdonald, Senator Canavan and Senator Siewert and congratulate the Joint Select Committee on Northern Australia on this report. I would also like to draw attention to the great work that former senator Alan Eggleston did, a former Mayor of Port Hedland. He was a very strong advocate for the north-west of our nation. I hope in my own little way to be able to continue his contribution in this place.

It is important for us to remember when thinking about northern Australia that it is not a homogenous set of communities. In fact, Western Australian communities across the north of our country are vastly different from those that we might find on the east coast of our country in Queensland. The towns of Port Hedland, Newman, Derby, Wyndham, Kununurra and Broome are very different to those that will be more familiar to Senator Macdonald and Senator Canavan in Queensland. I think this demonstrates a very important point. It is when we look at communities individually and understand their particular circumstances that we are best able to develop a response and maximise the opportunities that are available to them and to us in our country.

Of course in the north-west of Western Australia this is more about the fantastic opportunities that Asian development and Asian growth are presenting to us. It is easy to look at our success as a country through the prism of minerals resource development and minerals exports, but with the rising levels of income in India and China people are going to require greater quality in their food. I am very much an optimist when it comes to Australia's agricultural exports and the opportunities that are presented for them in China particularly and certainly in India. Later this year I look forward to having an opportunity to inspect those opportunities myself.

In my final remarks I want to read briefly from a prime ministerial media statement. The media statement says:

Today the Prime Minister and Commonwealth ministers met with the Premiers of Queensland and Western Australia to discuss means of achieving closer cooperation in the development of Northern Australia.

The media release goes on to say:

It was agreed that this arrangement provided the most appropriate machinery upon which to develop closer cooperation and coordination of activities between the two states and the Commonwealth, including the Northern Territory.

It goes on to state:

The ministers agreed that appropriate Commonwealth and state ministers would meet together from time to time to review progress in northern development, to coordinate thinking and give directions to those who will be required to investigate particular proposals.

The meeting that this media release refers to was attended by Mr McEwan, Mr Holt, Senator Sir William Spooner and Mr Barnes. It was issued in May 1964. Of course, the Prime Minister was the Rt Hon. Sir Robert Menzies. But it goes to demonstrate a very important point: The challenges are not new, the will and enthusiasm to make the most of these opportunities are not new but, dare I say, it will require constant vigilance, and I am sure that the work of the joint committee over the coming 12 to 18 months will keep the government honest to make sure that we are doing everything that we can.

I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.