27 June 2014
ABC News
A summit in Townsville will hear that Australia’s north could be turned from a “frontier” to a “front door”, by developing on ties with Asia.
A Northern Development Summit will begin in Townsville today to help shape the direction of the Federal Government’s policy to develop northern Australia.
Matt Faubel is the chief operating officer of the think tank ADC Forum, which is organising the summit.
He says a long-term vision is needed.
“So the planning we’re talking about is for a number of decades but that doesn’t mean that development can’t start now,” he said.
“One of the emphases of the summit is to look at what are some of the things which we can do early? What are some of the early wins to get the development process started?”
Organiser Anton Roux says experts in several areas will present their ideas for the best way to harness the north’s potential.
“We’ve had a number of expert working groups come together around a range of different areas, so we’re looking at trade and investment in the region, looking at the future make-up of the economy, looking at our natural resource base, looking at the government issues and really kind of considering the full range of areas,” he said.
Courtesy of ABC News