Senator the Hon Ian Macdonald Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern and Remote Australia Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Defence Force and Defence Support Liberal – Queensland – LNP

July 23, 2013

The Future of Northern Australia

Tomorrow, July 24, interested parties from the Karratha region will have the chance to have their say on the Coalition’s 2030 Vision for the Development of Northern Australia.

Senator Ian Macdonald, [...]

16 July 2013 Northern Territory News/Sunday Territorian

LETTER OF THE DAY

I’VE lived in Brisbane for all of my 63 years and have only visited the north for a couple of weeks last year.

I know that many in Northern Australia would like to see much more development in the north and just as many would like it to stay just like it is.

With such a huge area it is possible to have the [...]

July 17, 2013 Kim Stephens The Brisbane Times

An almost $7 billion federal Coalition election pledge to upgrade sections of the Bruce Highway recognises its “critical importance” to Queensland, transport spokesman Warren Truss says.

Mr Truss said the Coalition had struck an agreement with Queensland’s Newman Government to upgrade parts of the highway over a 10-year period.

Proposed works include duplications north of Gympie and south of Carins, as well as ringroads in Mackay, Townsville [...]

Jason Tin 17 July 2013 The Courier-Mail

ALMOST 70 blackspots on the Bruce Highway would be fixed in the next decade under a multi-billiondollar plan to be announced by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

In a major political salvo fired over the Bruce Highway, which is shaping as a key federal election issue in Queensland, Mr Abbott has unveiled a $6.7 billion plan in an attempt to trump Labor’s existing commitment.

The Coalition will enter into [...]

July 25, 2013 Paul Garvey The Australian

THE continued growth of Asia’s middle class will help insulate the region’s economy from the impact of “reshoring”, the phenomenon that could see cheap US energy prices and rising Chinese labour costs drive manufacturing back to North America.

But Australia’s manufacturing faces an ongoing challenge to compete, with new research into reshoring by investment bank CLSA underscoring the vast productivity gap between Australia and the rest of Asia.

[...]

13 July 2013 Andrea Davy andrea.davy@dailymercury.com.au The Daily Mercury

MACKAY is tipped to become a development hot spot if the Liberal National Coalition wins  the upcoming election, according to Senator Ian Macdonald and Member for Dawson George  Christensen.

The pair spoke to key industry groups in Mackay yesterday morning during a public forum to  discuss the Coalition’s 2030 Vision for Developing Northern Australia.

Senator Macdonald said the north had excellent tourism, agriculture and resource  [...]

Richard Guilliatt 13 July 2013 The Australian Magazine

Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles is a man in a hurry – but is he going too fast?

Even before he became chief minister of the Northern Territory, Adam Giles made it clear he  regarded speed limits on outback highways as a prime example of the namby-pamby Labor  Party over-regulation that he and his conservative Country Liberal colleagues would eradicate  should they get into power. True [...]

Tony Walker 13 July 2013 The Australian Financial Review

The Coalition’s Andrew Robb has a plan for Australia’s under-developed north. If Rudd wants to push his own message of making Australia more competitive, maybe he should take a look. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd went to the National Press Club this week for a soft launch of Labor’s rebranded (by Rudd) re-election campaign, whenever that poll might be held between now and November 30.

In that [...]

July 19, 2013 Tim Treadgold Mining Journal

At a time when the mining industry is being rocked by the ill winds of falling metal prices and sagging investor support, it is encouraging to find the occasional nugget of good news, which is what Australia’s Roy Hill iron-ore project represents.

Rather than retreating, currently the preferred tactic of most big mining companies, the owners of Roy Hill have opted to move forward, taking on board the [...]

Thank you for the warm welcome.

I have a deep respect for the fourth estate and I appreciate being invited to address the Queensland Media Club.

In the last 24 hours I have learnt a new party trick from Kevin Rudd.

It’s fantastic.

Yesterday Mr Rudd gave a speech where he promised nothing more than a group hug with business and the ACTU and more meetings overseas.

He mentioned buzz words like ‘productivity’ and ‘competitiveness’ [...]