NT embraces northern development plan

THE NT government has welcomed the federal white paper on northern development and says it demonstrates a commitment to tangible investment.

INITIALLY sceptical of federal rhetoric, the Northern Territory's chief minister says he is now confident the northern Australia white paper has backed up with substance a development plan for the next two decades.

RELEASED on Thursday, the paper includes a commitment from the commonwealth to put $5 million towards a feasibility study into a railway line from Tennant Creek to Mount Isa, to set up in Darwin a one-stop shop to approve northern projects worth more than $50 million, and up to $200 million for a northern water infrastructure fund.