Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment Bill 2026
Senator GREEN (Queensland—Assistant Minister for Tourism, Assistant Minister for Pacific Island Affairs and Assistant Minister for Northern Australia) (12:47): I'll just speak briefly to the amendment to put the government's position on the record. The government will be opposing this amendment. In 2024 the government updated the NAIF's investment mandate to ensure that potential projects align with one or more of the following policy principles: sustainable and resilient economic development and alleviation of economic or social disadvantage in northern Australia; working with jurisdictions to deliver key infrastructure in northern Australia; sustainability, climate change and circular economy principles and solutions in northern Australia; realising the Critical Minerals Strategy; and materially improving the lives of Indigenous people and communities.
What that means is that we have seen an increase in investment by NAIF in a range of sectors and in a range of projects, with more investment in housing, more investment in renewable energy and more investment in critical minerals. This bill actually strengthens the NAIF board's accountability to this investment mandate, which is really important. It requires the board to notify responsible ministers if the NAIF fails to comply with the investment mandate.
It also enables responsible ministers to direct the board to take corrective action. The Minister for Northern Australia continues to retain a veto power over investment decisions. In 2022 the minister provided NAIF with the government's statement of exceptions, and it included the government's priority to transition Australia's energy sector to net zero emissions by 2050, and that the NAIF has a key role in contributing to this priority in northern Australia.
That's why the government won't be supporting this amendment. We recognise the role that NAIF is playing in that transition. Just one of those projects that I want to talk to is the Alpha HPA First Project in Gladstone.
The NAIF is providing a loan to Alpha HPA First Project to ensure the investment will lead to the production of over 10,000 tonnes of high-purity aluminium and a range of related products. This will support the high-technology manufacturing sector such as LED lighting, lithium batteries and semiconductors. These are all things that are needed in the transition, which is making sure that people in northern Australia, particularly in Gladstone, have good, secure jobs in industries that are either advanced manufacturing, renewable energy or transitioning from the economy that we have right now in regional Australia.
People in northern Australia and particularly the Gladstone region deserve good, secure jobs, and these types of projects are supporting those types of jobs as we transition our economy.