Mr LITTLEPROUD (Maranoa—Leader of the Nationals) (12:17): I'm pleased to rise and deliver this statement on behalf of the federal coalition to affirm and highlight the crucial role that northern Australia has when it comes to the economic prosperity and social fabric of our nation. It's a contribution which is truly immense. Northern Australia is vast and diverse. It's a region where there are opportunities for the government to seize which exist nowhere else. The north comprises 53 per cent of our landmass—just picture three quarters of Queensland, half of Western Australia and the whole of the Northern Territory. Looking back, we know that the north has provided so much to our nation's history and to our Australian character. The determination, resilience and bravery of the early explorers and pioneers of the north continue to live on, and we are reminded daily in this place of the legacies and sacrifices of proud Australians, such as the Durack family, Ludwig Leichhardt and Edmund Kennedy, and their contributions to the wealth of this country. The federal coalition has always recognised the significant place of northern Australia in forging our country's identity and the importance of securing its future by harnessing its potential for economic development. I want to take a moment to recognise the members elected to this place who represent the north. They do an incredible job advocating for their people and these communities. Currently, of the 151 members of the House of Representatives and 76 senators, only 12 are based in northern Australia. When parliament comes together, these MPs are renowned for speaking up and fighting ferociously for many essential priorities, such as strengthening roads, bridges and transport; protecting our biosecurity front line and the future of the agricultural industry; securing our water resources; incentivising businesses, mining and tourism investment; delivering stronger infrastructure and defence; building reliable communications; providing affordable insurance; improving life-saving response times for emergency services; and increasing the number of doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and hospital beds. Although many residents in northern Australia live with these challenges every day, they face them with tenacity and ingenuity. It is essential that these communities have a federal government that has their back—a government which designs and delivers targeted policies which aim to make this region an even better place to live, work and invest. Indeed, the sense of urgency to support and build the north needs to escalate. Faced with a dynamic geopolitical backdrop, an increasingly hungry world demanding quality food with reliable supply chains and our allies seeking a secure supply of critical and traditional minerals and rare earth to electrify the world, there's an opportunity which exists at our northern gateway. Proudly, the federal coalition has demonstrated, through our track record in government, that we recognise and care about the families and communities, the industries, the businesses, the workers and the incredible economic assets of the north, and rest assured, if elected, the coalition will again provide a comprehensive framework which creates and fortifies all the opportunities for northerners to live and work to their fullest potential so that, in turn, every Australian can prosper. In government, it was the coalition which developed the white paper on northern Australia Our North, Our Future in 2015 which laid out our ambitious vision for a strong future. Born out of that white paper and announced by the coalition in 2016, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, the NAIF, was a key part of our plan to grow the north by encouraging private sector investment through loan mechanisms for nation-building infrastructure projects to the tune of billions of dollars. On this front, the coalition acknowledges that last year this government honoured our existing commitment, back from January 2022, to increase the NAIF appropriation from $5 billion up to $7 billion, which has allowed for the ongoing establishment, growth and enhancement of business activity in this part of the country. To date, the NAIF has now financed 33 projects, with $4.6 billion in committed loans which are forecast to provide $39.6 billion in public benefit and over 20,000 jobs. I'd like to recognise the industry-led research conducted by the Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia which de-risked the development of the region by providing business with greater efficiency. Along with the contributions of NAIF, this centre improves the competitiveness, productivity and sustainability of the north. I also express thanks for the work of the Indigenous Reference Group and their role in developing Indigenous opportunities and connecting our communities. I acknowledge the shadow minister for northern Australia, Senator McDonald, and her leadership in establishing the Joint Select Committee on Northern Australia and the inquiries by this committee into a range of vital issues, including the cyclone reinsurance pool, energy, food and water security, and workforce development. We're confident that the outcomes of these inquiries will lay further foundations and structures for northern Australia to continue to grow. It's well known that the north has long-proven, competitive advantages in agriculture, resources, critical minerals, energy, defence, manufacturing and tourism. That's why we need to capitalise on it now. The resource sector is deeply invested in the north, and the returns generated here benefit every Australian. The latest ATO corporate tax transparency report shows that Australia's mining industry continues to be the nation's biggest taxpayer, paying $43.1 billion in company tax and $31.5 billion in royalties for 2022-23. These numbers highlight the essential role that mining has in underpinning the strength of our economy and the funding that goes into the essential services that all Australians rely on. In fact, the resource industry has paid more in tax than all other Australian industries combined for the second consecutive year. It should never be forgotten that this goes into our schools, roads, aged care facilities, hospitals and national security. The taxes and royalties which flow from the northern mining sector benefit every town and every city in Australia. Importantly, our rich geological regions continue to produce traditional minerals as well as the critical minerals that the entire world is demanding. This same geology that makes the north so abundantly resource rich has also created a remarkable array of natural tourism attractions. There's no doubt that domestic and international travellers are drawn to the natural beauty of northern Australia. Each visitor to the Great Barrier Reef in the 2023-24 financial year helped to support the 60,000 jobs that exist through marine tourism, and this made an invaluable contribution to the $6.3 billion dollars that the reef pumped into the national economy. Meanwhile, visitors to the Northern Territory who include the Red Centre and Uluru on their itinerary, as well as Kakadu National Park and other awe-inspiring attractions in this part of the country, help generate a total direct and indirect tourism gross state product of $2.6 billion. In Western Australia those who have enjoyed the Kimberley or the pearl industry of Broome, and the white sands and sunset camel rides on Cable Beach have boosted the state's tourism gross state product to $13.2 billion. Despite the enormity of tourism, this is where we need to be reminded that the population who call this vast region home amounts to just 1.4 million people. This is only 5.2 per cent of Australia's total population living on more than half of our entire landmass. It's a reality which reinforces and reflects how much people in the north punch well above their weight regardless of the weight of the challenges. Cities like Cairns in far north Queensland can be populated by an extra 30 per cent on any one night by visiting tourists. The additional city infrastructure required to accommodate such major increases in the transient population is considerable, and this is one example of where the federal government needs to consider the billions of dollars that the Great Barrier Reef delivers to the national coffers and reciprocate these benefits by supporting critical infrastructure in places such as Cairns. By 'critical infrastructure' I'd like to refer specifically to the Cairns Water Security Stage 1 project. This is a call for drinking water—a basic human right—which would support local residents, assist with disaster resilience, boost economic development and, above all, demonstrate a profound show of government confidence in the north. Let's not undervalue Australia's longest shortcut: the Outback Way. The Outback Way is one of the great Australian road trips, as it winds 2,700 kilometres through the heart of the nation, from Winton in Queensland—in my great electorate—via the Red Centre to WA. While the Outback Way is one of Australia's most scenic drives, actual life along the route is less than ideal when it's closed for several months of the year due to rain, flooding, potholes, corrugation and basic reduction to dirt. Sealing the final 1,200 kilometres of the Outback Way should be a national priority because it's Australia's third transnational route, connecting the east and west coasts. A fully sealed Outback Way will boost our national productivity and GDP by expanding tourism, mining, agriculture and freight efficiencies. It will provide a corridor for commercial investment and access to agricultural markets, allowing suppliers to service remote communities and ensuring that product gets onto supermarket shelves, helping to reduce prices at a time when these Australians are feeling the pain of a nationwide cost-of-living crisis. Getting this done will also facilitate access to mining projects and critical minerals and will provide sustainable outcomes for these communities by creating jobs while boosting health, education, safety, emergency access, Closing the Gap initiatives and social connectivity. Overall, this transformational project will improve the quality of life for northern Australians. It's an important example where the federal government needs to consider the economic input of this region to the bottom line and needs to reinvest in that relationship and boost its ongoing economic growth. Our roads, our rail and our port connections connect the whole nation. They provide essential trade routes, they deliver our food and they have a major role in unlocking and harnessing the true potential of the north. That's why the Northern Australia Roads Program and the Northern Australia Beef Roads Program must remain as essential links to strengthen the resilience of agriculture supply chains, improve safety, reduce freight costs and strengthen links to markets. Currently, there are 12½ million beef cattle in northern Australia. They supply around 90 per cent of Australia's annual live cattle exports while the industry itself covers about 60 per cent of the north's total land area. Meanwhile, 95 per cent of our sugar, 96 per cent of our banana crop and 92 per cent of our mangoes come from this region. With so much of the regional economy based on agriculture, having an extensive, safe and reliable system of road, rail, port and airport connections to feed ourselves and to export to our trading partners is absolutely critical. Ultimately, northern Australia is the powerhouse of our economy. It's a treasure chest of resources, it's our food bowl, it's a tourism superpower, it's the home of three great universities—James Cook University, Charles Darwin University and Central Queensland University—and, through a national security lens, it's our first line of defence from northern approaches and against those ever-evolving biosecurity threats. Importantly, it's worth recognising that, with more than 17 per cent of the population in northern Australia being Indigenous, this region holds a central key in terms of a nationwide effort to effectively close the gap for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. To conclude, the federal coalition stands in solidarity with northern Australia, and our commitment to this unique part of our nation is resolute. With most of the political landscape in the north being proudly held by the coalition—the seats of Flynn, Maranoa, Capricornia, Dawson, Herbert, Leichhardt and Durack—and with two of our senators being based in North Queensland and one in the Northern Territory, those living here can be assured that a future coalition government will give northern Australia the voice, the investment and the support it needs to secure its future, because we on this side of the chamber know that a bright future for the north means a bright future for all Australians.