Far North Queensland Regional Organisation of Councils Our Ref: #6177508 6 September 2019 Committee Secretariat Select Committee on the Effectiveness of the Australian Government’s Northern Australia Agenda Via: online portal. Dear Sir/Madam Select Committee on the Effectiveness of the Australian Government’s Northern Australia Agenda The Far North Queensland Regional Organisation of Councils (FNQROC) was established in the 1980’s and represents 13 member councils from Hinchinbrook, north to Cook and west to Carpentaria in far north Queensland. The FNQROC region is the largest and fastest growing region in Northern Australia. It extends over 320,000 square kilometres with a population of approximately 276,000 and a gross regional product (GRP) of $15.15 billion. Further details can be found on our website at www.fnqroc.qld.gov.au. Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the effectiveness of the objectives, design, implementation and evaluation of the Australian Government’s Northern Australia agenda. The agenda is about unlocking the region’s full economic potential as a gateway to global markets, a source of rich resources and a home to pristine environments. There is a 20-year plan for investment and support to grow the north through 6 key pillars: 1. A trade and investment gateway 2. A more diversified northern economy 3. Indigenous entrepreneurship and businesses 4. World-class infrastructure 5. Water infrastructure investment, and 6. Research and innovation. The terms of reference for the select committee is to inquire into and report on the effectiveness of the objectives, design, implementation and evaluation of the Australian Governments Northern Australia Agenda with particular reference to: a. Facilitation of public and private investment in infrastructure and economic development; www.fnqroc.qld.gov.au b. Economic and social benefits arising from that investment for Northern Australians, in particular First Nations people; c. Funding models and policy measures that capture the full value of existing and emerging industries; d. Measures taken to develop an appropriately skilled workforce; e. Emerging national and international trends and their impact on the Northern Australia agenda; and f. Any related matters. In developing our submission, we identified a difficulty in responding under the terms of reference headings. Much of what we are submitting crosses a number of terms being reviewed. To minimise the risk of repeating ourselves, losing the point or story, our submission will address items where local government has had a touch point under headings related to the Northern Australia Agenda: • Partnerships • Roads, • water, • telecommunications, • social infrastructure, • NAIF, • Research and Development, and • City Deals Upfront, it is recognised that the Northern Australia agenda is 3.5years into a 20-year plan and it is hoped that some of our commentary can be utilised to improve or change initiatives into the future. Government Partnerships to enable the Northern Australia Agenda Some of the biggest challenges of northern Australia still remain unanswered. This includes (but not limited to) regional population growth strategies, infrastructure such as roads, dams, telecommunication and land tenure. It is recommended that all levels of government starting working diligently to alleviate the big challenges associated with opening northern Australia. The Northern Australia agenda relies on all levels of government and related industries/businesses for it to be a success. Therein lies the first issue, while anecdotal, it appears that realising opportunities (in Far North Queensland) is hampered by issues between State and Federal governments. This hampering comes through a number of forms: • Bureaucratic processes within State and Federal Governments; • A perceived unwillingness to acknowledge infrastructure issues; Page 2 • A perceived unwillingness to commit to what is evidently needed by undertaking numerous studies to allow for protracted decision making; • Development of business studies designed to fail. Examples of all of these can be found further in our submission. It is also noted within the 2018 Implementation report that the Office of Northern Australia does not have any local government or regional organisation of councils (ROC’s) as ‘key partners’. It is recommended that local governments and or ROC’s be actively engaged in the process to deliver the Northern Agenda. Infrastructure Australia Infrastructure Australia is the nation’s independent infrastructure advisor to advise governments, industry and the community on the investments and reforms needed to deliver better infrastructure for all Australians. Infrastructure Australia maintain the Infrastructure Priority List to ensure that public funds are directed towards projects that will deliver the best outcomes for our growing communities. Through the Infrastructure Priority List, Infrastructure Australia provides all levels of government with a prioritised list of infrastructure challenges and opportunities for the short, medium and longer term. Currently Infrastructure Australia apply a threshold value of $30 million per annum in measuring material net benefit when assessing submissions to the Infrastructure Priority List. It is recommended that this threshold be reviewed and lowered for projects in Northern Australia given the significant challenges faced in Northern Australia including sparse populations, industry size, costs of doing business (insurance, energy) and service challenges. The Northern Australia Infrastructure Audit (2015) highlights that there are significant infrastructure challenges to meet the projected Northern Australia population and economic growth. A number of those challenges are highlighted within this submission. It is recommended that an update to this audit be undertaken to inform the development of an associated Northern Australian Infrastructure Development Plan and Priority List. This Plan and Priority List should be the key reference point for State and Federal governments to guide infrastructure decision making in Northern Australia. Roads Roads are critically important to economic development and the health and safety of all that use them. The Australian Road Assessment Program (AusRAP) mapping shows the combined risk rating for our major road networks is mostly assessed as medium-high and high.1 1 http://racqi.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=2ab9f268294948f688b5c339993351fa Page 3 announcement to approval and delivery is excessive and is a result of goal posts continuing to change. For the local government projects we have a log of communications which show: • State prioritisation process – 2 weeks (12/04/2016 – 27/04/2016) • Original application process – 5 weeks (29/04/2016 – 07/06/2016) • Announcements – 16 October 2016 • Project Prioritisation Report process commences Feb 2017 – 1 year (09/02/2017 – 31/01/2018) • PPR’s approved for Richmond Croydon Rd and Ootann Road – 3 months (20/04/2018) • PPR approved for Burke Developmental Road (in part) August 2019– 2.5years Key points • These are excessively long time frames from announcement to delivery; • Local governments getting urgent calls for information then long lag times before the next action required by either State or Federal governments; • PPR requirements changing between submission and approval resulting in them being sent back for amendment. There is something wrong with this process, particularly for the relatively small funding amounts involved. Northern Australia Roads Program ($600mil in 2016) Focused on the movement of people and freight. Only the Kennedy Developmental Road received funding from this program: $2.7mil – Kennedy Developmental Road (Mt Garnet – Lynd) $40mil – Kennedy Developmental Road (The Lynd – Hughenden aka Hann Highway) It is understood and gratefully appreciated that the Hann Highway was an election promise. It is our understanding that the State Government nominated and submitted the roads for this funding round, local government was not involved in the process at all. Roads of Strategic Importance (ROSI) ($4.5Bil in 2019 of which $1.7Bil is for northern Australia) The intent of this funding program (3 years after the last program) is for key freight roads to efficiently connect agricultural and mining regions to ports, airports and other transport hubs. Our region has two corridors: • Cooktown to Weipa – Mulligan Highway and Peninsula Developmental Road. $190mil has been allocated from this funding to continue efforts from previous programs which included Roads on National Importance (RONI) and the Cape Page 5 York Package. It is very much appreciated that the Federal Government is continuing to invest in this corridor to ensure it is completed in full. This is a prime example of long term commitment and investment. • Cairns to Northern Territory Border. This corridor has been allocated $50mil for the local government road portion in Carpentaria and Burke Shires which is very much appreciated. The only issue for these two small councils is contributing 20%. Again, this corridor apparently was decided by the State and is not the preferred link for this region. The start and end is perfect but the route via Burke Developmental Road does not compare to the current and potential economic opportunities on the Gulf Developmental Road. The Gulf Developmental Road is also the main feeder from Cairns to Gulf communities. The Gulf Developmental road supports significant agricultural, grazing, solar