5 years ago
INFRASTRUCTURE AUDIT CONFIRMS NORTHERN AUSTRALIA FAIL
Senator Murray Watt
Today’s Infrastructure Australia audit confirms the Morrison Government is failing Northern Australia.
Infrastructure Australia’s third national audit finds that four years on from the release of the Government’s Northern Australia White Paper, our north is still missing opportunities.
Northern Australia faces a tougher terrain than down south. The Infrastructure Australia audit found that challenges with “delivery due to low populations” as well as “weather, changing markets and high building costs” are more particular to Northern Australia.
However, the audit confirms that building crucial infrastructure in regional areas and Northern Australia can help smooth economic fluctuations while supporting growth and employment:
“Infrastructure can help to smooth peaks and troughs. Common-use infrastructure that provides digital and physical connectivity, such as roads, airports, mobile towers and broadband access, can boost social capital and support a diversity of growth sectors, including tourism and other tertiary services that tend to be more resilient to economic fluctuations.”
Northern Australia is resilient and the audit confirms that our north has enormous economic potential, which can be unlocked with the right infrastructure.
Despite talking such a big game for so many years, the Morrison Government’s infrastructure inertia is failing Northern Australia.
Most notably, this Government’s flagship $5 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (better known as the “No Actual Infrastructure Fund”) has barely released a trickle of funding in four long years.
The audit also finds that the quality of infrastructure for people living in small towns, rural communities and remote areas does not meet the standards Australians expect.
Worse still, the Morrison Government’s so-called $100 billion infrastructure program doesn’t even add up, and less than 30 percent of it is budgeted for the next four years.
Today’s audit backs up calls from the Reserve Bank Governor and State Liberal Treasurers to bring forward infrastructure investment – particularly in regional Australia.
At this critical time when economic growth is the slowest it has been in ten years, wages are stagnant, and living standards are going backwards, Infrastructure Australia is the latest major body to emphasise the importance of building infrastructure to boost our economy, particularly the economies of regional areas and Northern Australia.
The recently established Senate Inquiry into the Effectiveness of the Governments Northern Australia agenda will explore the need for infrastructure projects in Northern Australia. Submissions are open until 20 September 2019. Information on making a submission can be found on the committee’s website, at: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/NorthernAustraliaAgenda.
Labor has said for months we want to work with the Morrison Government to bring forward projects to support Australia’s sluggish economy.
The only response from the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure Michael McCormack is that ‘you can’t do it all at once’ – a ridiculous assertion that no-one is putting forward.
It’s been four years since the Morrison Government launched the Northern Australia White Paper. Northern Australia cannot afford to wait another four years for Canberra to deliver infrastructure funding.
Infrastructure Australia’s third national audit finds that four years on from the release of the Government’s Northern Australia White Paper, our north is still missing opportunities.
Northern Australia faces a tougher terrain than down south. The Infrastructure Australia audit found that challenges with “delivery due to low populations” as well as “weather, changing markets and high building costs” are more particular to Northern Australia.
However, the audit confirms that building crucial infrastructure in regional areas and Northern Australia can help smooth economic fluctuations while supporting growth and employment:
“Infrastructure can help to smooth peaks and troughs. Common-use infrastructure that provides digital and physical connectivity, such as roads, airports, mobile towers and broadband access, can boost social capital and support a diversity of growth sectors, including tourism and other tertiary services that tend to be more resilient to economic fluctuations.”
Northern Australia is resilient and the audit confirms that our north has enormous economic potential, which can be unlocked with the right infrastructure.
Despite talking such a big game for so many years, the Morrison Government’s infrastructure inertia is failing Northern Australia.
Most notably, this Government’s flagship $5 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (better known as the “No Actual Infrastructure Fund”) has barely released a trickle of funding in four long years.
The audit also finds that the quality of infrastructure for people living in small towns, rural communities and remote areas does not meet the standards Australians expect.
Worse still, the Morrison Government’s so-called $100 billion infrastructure program doesn’t even add up, and less than 30 percent of it is budgeted for the next four years.
Today’s audit backs up calls from the Reserve Bank Governor and State Liberal Treasurers to bring forward infrastructure investment – particularly in regional Australia.
At this critical time when economic growth is the slowest it has been in ten years, wages are stagnant, and living standards are going backwards, Infrastructure Australia is the latest major body to emphasise the importance of building infrastructure to boost our economy, particularly the economies of regional areas and Northern Australia.
The recently established Senate Inquiry into the Effectiveness of the Governments Northern Australia agenda will explore the need for infrastructure projects in Northern Australia. Submissions are open until 20 September 2019. Information on making a submission can be found on the committee’s website, at: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/NorthernAustraliaAgenda.
Labor has said for months we want to work with the Morrison Government to bring forward projects to support Australia’s sluggish economy.
The only response from the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure Michael McCormack is that ‘you can’t do it all at once’ – a ridiculous assertion that no-one is putting forward.
It’s been four years since the Morrison Government launched the Northern Australia White Paper. Northern Australia cannot afford to wait another four years for Canberra to deliver infrastructure funding.