The Hon Melissa Price MP
Developing the North Strategically, with Security, Liveability & Investment
I’m pleased to be speaking here today as the Federal Member for Durack and as a proud representative of northern Western Australia.
I think that you would all agree that when the North succeeds so does the rest of our nation and it’s hard to think of a better place to make that point than right here in the Pilbara.
It’s hard to believe that we gather here almost 10 years since the release of the Developing Northern Australia White Paper.
This was a landmark document that was released by the then Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, Warren Truss, and Minister for Trade and Investment, Andrew Robb.
I believe this was the first time that the Federal Government took the North of Australia seriously and I was proud to be part of that team.
But of course, it’s not just a glossy document. It sets out a framework for policies to make the most of Northern Australia, many of which were actioned during the 10 years of a Coalition government.
For example, the establishment of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, we now know as NAIF, which provides concessional loans for the development of infrastructure projects.
The $5 billion dollars we legislated for has already supported 32 projects across Northern Australia, including 9 here in Western Australia.
I was pleased to read yesterday morning about Minister Madeline King’s announcement for a NAIF Loan of $150 million to De Grey’s gold mine project here in the Pilbara.
I understand a review of NAIF is now underway and I will be following that closely to ensure any amendments to the scheme are purely based on the North’s best interests and not ideological positions.
We also committed billions of dollars towards improving public infrastructure in northern Australia.
This included the Northern Australia Roads Program which has funded 20 projects, including upgrades to the Flinders Highway, the Arnhem Highway and the Great Northern Highway.
There was also a $100 million investment in the Northern Australia Beef Roads Program, that has particularly benefited Queenslanders.
We also introduced Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMAs) across much of the North, with the Pilbara, East Kimberley and Far North Queensland leading the way. A skilled workforce is crucial to develop our north, and our immigration system simply isn’t targeted or nimble enough to be fit for our purposes.
So many good initiatives, but there is still much to do and that brings me to the focus of my presentation.
Developing the North Strategically - Security, Liveability and Investment. If all governments could focus on these three elements we could successfully develop the north, rather than just talking about developing the north.
In terms of security, I thought it important to highlight one simple sentence from the 2015 White Paper:
“Northern Australia is the frontline for our nation’s defence, border protection and biosecurity.”
Since 2015, we have moved into a period of greater global uncertainty and regional competition. In fact, we are increasingly told that we are living in the most dangerous time since the second world war.
It follows that our defence policy must be adjusted to support a greater and more secure presence in northern Australia.
This means working with partners like the United States, but as a former Minister for Defence Industry, I can say it must also include greater investments in sovereign capability and infrastructure.
Upgrading bases like RAAF Base Curtin and RAAF Base Learmonth, which are located here in Durack, is a good start. The Coalition committed to that in the 2016 Defence White Paper. Encouraging our close neighbours to take advantage of this strategic infrastructure will also benefit the north.
But hostile nations aren’t the only concern either, we also must combat the efforts of people smugglers.
Maintaining Operation Sovereign Borders is critical to our border protection and preventing widespread illegal maritime arrivals. While offshore processing remains Commonwealth policy, we need to remain vigilant.
Unfortunately, under the current Government aerial surveillance hours have fallen by 20 per cent and maritime patrol days have decreased by 12 per cent.
Earlier this year, I outlined the necessity of increasing maritime surveillance following the fourth illegal boat arrival along the WA coast in just six months. Border Force also recently confirmed four illegal fishing vessels were found by local fishermen in the mangroves near Broome.
Boats reaching our shores present significant threats to northern Australia. Outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease across Indonesia should highlight the need to properly monitor our waters.
Just think of the biosecurity disaster that disease would bring to our cattle industries for example.
Now to the north’s liveability. Ensuring northern Australia is an attractive place to live is fundamental to its future.
This means addressing cost of living pressures which are even higher in Northern Australia. Here in Karratha the median rental price for a two-bedroom home is around $1,100 per week.
It also means better access to services for locals.
You shouldn’t have to fly to Perth or Darwin or Brisbane for every doctor’s appointment that requires more than a prescription of antibiotics or a band aid.
Part of the problem is simply getting the workers here or losing the ones we have.
We need to be training our own local workforce in the regions because we know too often when students leave for the city to study, they never come back.
That is why I am a big supporter of regional university centres and have welcomed their expansion including under the current Federal Government.
We have a local example of our own with the Pilbara Kimberley Universities Centre, of which I am proudly a foundation board member. We are well on our way to creating our own unique Pilbara School of Mines. I’ll let Susan Grylls, the CEO, further explain the success of this model tomorrow.
Enhancing liveability also means investing in important social infrastructure like this beautiful Red Earth Arts Precinct.
Along with the City of Karratha, I was thrilled to announce $10 million dollars from the Coalition Government towards this important project.
I’m sure we all understand that crime also impacts the North’s liveability.
High crime rates have been front of mind during the recent Northern Territory campaign and also the upcoming Queensland campaign. Unfortunately Townsville has been featuring in the media recently for the wrong reasons.
We are not immune from this issue in Western Australia either. In fact, 2023-24 was the worst year on record in regional WA for crime, with the Kimberley topping the list.
People not feeling safe in their homes and communities acts as a significant deterrent to staying in the North.
I’ve long called for more investment in diversionary programs for at risk youth.
I also believe targeted approaches such as mandatory income management and alcohol restrictions should be enforced where appropriate.
Given that the next session is “mining and beyond”, I want to touch on touch on investment certainty in our resources sector.
During the last sitting of Parliament, I gave a speech about the several fundamental factors that make us uncompetitive compared to foreign markets.
Our corporate tax rate is much higher than the OECD average.
Our energy costs are on the rise.
Our industrial relations system is far too complicated and costly.
The level of red and green tape makes it difficult to do business and the approvals process is far too long.
Addressing the fundamentals will be the focus of a Dutton led Coalition Government.
Unfortunately, recent events surrounding the rejection of the $1billion Regis gold mine, show that the current Federal Government is only adding to investor uncertainty.
Regis Resources satisfied every state government and federal government hurdle possible to proceed with a gold mine project near Blayney, in central west New South Wales.
The Minister rejected the project based on Indigenous heritage considerations, even though it had the support of the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council, the representative Indigenous voice for the region.
Here in WA, we know the ill thought out proposed Aboriginal Heritage laws would have caused complete chaos amongst land owners and Indigenous bodies. Federally, we should learn from this debacle and create guard rails around the timeliness of claims and applicant’s legitimacy.
The Government is also legislating further green tape with the creation of a Federal Environmental Protection Agency and through their Nature Positive Plan. What this constitutes is a duplication of environmental approval processes that already exist at the state level.
We need to cut approval times and I am pleased to say that is what the Shadow Environment Minister, the Hon Jonathon Duniam, has committed to. I look forward to joining him back in the Pilbara next week as we meet with local industry.
Part of our plan is to cease the $8.3 million dollars in Commonwealth funding for the Environmental Defenders Office.
The EDO was recently found by a Federal Court Judge to have confected evidence in a legal challenge regarding Santos’ Barossa gas project. Their work has turbocharged economy-stifling activities across Australia since its funding injection.
As a former Environment Minister myself, I support the protection of our environment, and interested parties’ right to object to a project.
However, I do not support Australian taxpayers funding activist legal challenges that are detrimental to the development of local jobs and to the national bottom line.
I’ll conclude by repeating the point I made at the beginning. When the North succeeds so does the rest of the nation.
Unfortunately, it is a point that must be constantly made, as we are often forgotten about up here and the wealth generation our region is responsible for is often taken for granted.
That means we must work extra hard to ensure the right policy settings are implemented.
But we must be clear eyed about how decisions are made by Government. At a Federal level, the majority of Cabinet members are city based politicians. A Treasurer will be grateful for the mining royalties but I doubt he or she thinks about the individuals who help to create the wealth here in the north.
On that note I thank you all for your efforts and I look forward to working with you to continue our battle for better outcomes for northern Australia.
*Speech at the Developing Northern Australia Conference, held in Karratha on 27 August 2024*
The Hon Melissa Price MP
Federal Member for Durack
Opposition Whip