Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s promise to make the $7 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility permanent if the Coalition wins government has been welcomed by Cape York community and business leaders, including Weipa Town Authority Chair Jaime Gane. Photo: Facebook (Peter Dutton).
A Coalition election promise to make the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) permanent has been welcomed by Cape York leaders who say the $7 billion fund has the capacity to make the region more appealing to investors if it is properly utilised.
On 25 January, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton announced the NAIF would remain a key part of the Northern Australia conversation if the Coalition won this year’s federal election.
The fund currently has a sunset clause of 30 June 2026, but Mr Dutton said he believed it had a pivotal long-term role to play to “power up Northern Australia’s economy and jobs market”.
“Northern Australia is front and centre of the Coalition’s plans to get Australia back on track,” he said.
“We want to power up Northern Australia’s economy and jobs market; making the NAIF permanent will give private enterprises the long-term certainty they need to invest in the north.
“It is critical to the region’s long-term economic success, which relies on the successful collaboration of public and private sectors to achieve economic growth and opportunity.”
Weipa Town Authority (WTA) Chair Jaime Gane said the announcement would benefit the region, adding she would like to see Cape York and the Torres Strait receive a greater focus from the government’s Office of Northern Australia.
“I think that it (the NAIF) is definitely being underutilised on the Cape,” she said.
“There is no shortage of people wanting to invest in the Cape and start new enterprises; the struggle we have is complicated and restrictive land tenure arrangements, which makes it very hard for new investments to come into the region.
“If we can resolve the issues that obstruct new investment into the region, the NAIF will definitely help to attract new industries; there is so much untapped potential in the western Cape, we just need help to unlock it so we can make way for new and sustainable development, which will deliver a diverse and stable economy.”
The WTA chair’s sentiment was shared by one Cape York council chief executive officer, who spoke to Cape York Weekly on the condition of anonymity.
“It’s a positive they want to keep [the NAIF] but it almost feels like a wall goes up when you mention Cape York as the location of a project.
“It can’t just be the Northern Territory and northern [Western Australia] being the centre of attention for investment and government attention; we’ve got a few tremendous opportunities here but no one’s going to write a cheque if the Cape doesn’t look like a priority for government.”
Liberal National Party candidate for Leichhardt Jeremy Neal, who was with Mr Dutton and Shadow Minister for Northern Australia Senator Susan McDonald for the announcement, said making the NAIF a permanent fixture was an important part of the party’s plan for the northernmost part of Queensland.
“We want to ensure Northern Australia is the economic powerhouse that we know it can be, and [this] announcement is an important part of achieving this,” he said.
