A Senate Committee has today called for a number of changes to fix Malcolm Turnbull’s No Actual Infrastructure Fund.
Three years after the NAIF was announced by the Government it has only delivered $3 million out of the $5 billion fund – or 0.068 percent.
It has spent more on salaries and travel than it has on infrastructure and jobs in the North.
This is just more proof of how out of touch the Turnbull Government is.
They are more focused on giving the big banks a $17 billion tax cut than they are on creating jobs and building infrastructure in Northern Australia.
In the NAIF’s 2017-18 Corporate Report it promised to invest between $300 million and $1 billion by 30 June this year.
But as of last weekend it had only delivered $3 million.
The Government has recently announced a number of changes to the NAIF. These changes are welcome but more changes are needed.
The Senate Economics Reference Committee Report released today has endorsed Labor’s policy to:
- Improve the NAIF’s governance by giving both the Northern Australia and Finance Ministers oversight of the NAIF
- Dedicate $1 billion of NAIF funding for investment in tourism projects.
It also recommended:
- Moving more NAIF staff to Northern Australia
- Appointing NAIF Board members with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage
- Prioritising projects which deliverer high local employment and procurement outcomes
- Publishing loan conditions and repayment rates
- Highlighting outstanding approvals which may delay approved projects
- Publishing Indigenous Engagement Statements, and
- Publishing details about highly paid executive salaries
Labor will consider the Committee’s full list of recommendations and respond in due course.
FRIDAY, 6 JULY 2018
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