18 June 2015
AAP
Prime Minister Tony Abbott says $1.2 billion in new money for northern Australia will help the region grasp its full potential.
A 20-year plan for the region unveiled in Canberra on Thursday includes measures for new roads and water resources, plans for more jobs, and business and trade opportunities.
“If the north does well, our country does well,” Abbott told reporters.
The money would go towards better infrastructure and more efficient and effective land use, Abbott said.
“It’s directed towards making the north more attractive for people to live and work.”
Over the next four years $700 million will be available to improve roads in the region.
Abbott said it was very important the strategic plan was acted upon and didn’t become yet another government report “that gathers dust on shelves”.
Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss will deliver an annual statement to parliament on northern development to ensure the plan becomes a “blueprint for a generation of development” and not just a series of good ideas and spending commitments.
Courtesy of AAP
