North Australia Digest – 8/10/12

We’d love to know what you think about today’s major stories that impact North Australia:
The Australian
Federal MPs Tony Crook, Alby Shultz, Dean Smith and Alan Eggleston are seeking Tony Abbott’s support for a peace deal on deregulation of the wheat export industry.
Keith de Lacy, former Macarthur Coal Chairman, has expressed reservations about governments ‘picking and choosing’ resources projects amid a shortage of global capital.
Over the weekend Sue Neales wrote two pieces regarding a food bowl  for the Flinders River Agricultural Precinct. You can read them  here and here.
Australian Financial Review
Indigenous Australians are the key to prolonging the mining-boom in the north-west of WA. Elena Douglas says ‘[t]he minerals and energy industries now employ close to 5000 indigenous people’ and that the symbiotic relationship between the indigenous community and the mining sector can ‘close the alarmingly persistent gap in living standards’ as ‘the great driver of well-being and social mobility is non-welfare income’.
West Australian
The West Australian also reports on several Federal MPs plan to cross the floor in support of Labor’s wheat export bill.
The World Bank has cut its growth outlook for Asia.
Courier Mail
After the recent shelving of major projects in Western Australia, labour demands have eased in the mining industry, increasing the quality of job seekers.
The outback town of Richmond has offered to sell $1 blocks of land to anyone willing to move to the town, if there’s enough interest.
Feel free to leave us a comment on any of the above stories.