This week’s federal Budget has important consequences for Northern Australia.
A $5.4 billion cut to the defence budget will have important security implications for the North of our country.
Bernard Salt has warned that billions of dollars of resources are at serious risk unless we build a large permanent defence installation somewhere in the north-west corridor of Australia. He believes that the Kimberley and Pilbara must be a “national priority.”
Also in the Budget, the government allocated funding for two new studies in Northern Australia. The first will be a $6 million study to investigate the possibility for the use of new and innovative irrigation techniques in Northern Queensland.
Perhaps to repair some of the damage done in the wake of the live cattle export ban, the government will also provide $100,000 (plus the same amount from the Qld government) to assess the viability of establishing an abbatoir in Northern Queensland.
In last night’s Budget Reply from the Opposition, Tony Abbott re-asserted the Coalition’s determination to cut “green tape” and establish one-stop-shops for environmental approval.
In other news this week, we drew attention to rising capital costs in the resources sector.
If you’d like more information on our vision for a new North please contact John Shipp, at jshipp@ipa.org.au or on 0429 706 661.
Also visit our website: www.andev-project.org/
As always, please feel free to share your vision for a new North by emailing me at jroskam@ipa.org.au.