Article – Long-awaited White Paper on Developing Northern Australia a boost for far north

18 June 2015
Steven Scott
Courier Mail

Native title and other land arrangements will be overhauled and businesses will receive incentives to invest and hire people as part of the blueprint to boost the Top End.
Mr Abbott will today announce his government’s long-awaited White Paper on Developing Northern Australia.

Water projects will be a key focus of the plan that aims to boost investment in areas of the country north of the Tropic of Capricorn.

The Nullinga Dam, near Cairns, will be given priority with funding for a feasibility study. Other water catchments across the state, including the Mitchell River, will be tested to see whether they can sustain a network of dams.

West Kimberley, in Western Australia, and the Darwin region also will be assessed for possible dam sites.
In a bid to attract investors, the Government will fund a $75 million Co-operative Research Centre on Developing Northern Australia and host a trade forum to the region in Darwin in November.
The White Paper, which the Coalition originally promised to deliver within a year of winning the election, will overlap with similar blueprints to boost agriculture and water.
It will contain some measures announced in the Budget, including a $5 billion loans facility for infrastructure, $100 million upgrades for roads used to transport cattle and repairs to regional airstrips.
PHOTO: Water projects will be a key focus, with water catchments across the state, including the Mitchell River, to be tested to see whether they can sustain a network of dams.
Courtesy of the Courier Mail