Three potash projects, a coal mine, a pumped hydro scheme and a barramundi farm, as well as a rugby league training centre and hospital car park are among the random projects funded by the federal government’s little-known $7 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.

The NAIF – established as a $5 billion fund by the former Coalition government in 2016 to kick-start economic development in Australia’s north – has been thrust into the national spotlight after the collapse of the Kalium Lakes potash project and, along with it, $83 million of taxpayer funding.