The time for talking is over. Just build us a bloody ship lift

THE Minister for Northern Australia has thrown his support behind the NT’s bid for a shiplift, saying he would love to see the $400 million project get up and running

An artist’s impression of the new ship lift at East Arm. Picture: Supplied

THE Minister for Northern Australia has thrown his support behind the NT’s bid for a shiplift, saying he would love to see the $400 million project get up and running.

Before touching down in Cairns for COAG talks on Thursday, Senator Matt Canavan said he was looking forward to discussing funding for the shiplift project with Chief Minister Michael Gunner after it was announced that the NT Government would partner with the Paspaley Group to build it.

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Mr Gunner said the project may be funded completely by the NT Government, which had already committed $100 million, if they did not receive a $300 million funding commitment from Federal Government or a loan from the Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility (NAIF).

“If they don’t put that money in, the weight does fall on the NT Government,” he said.

“We will have to absorb that across future infrastructure budgets. We spend about $1.5 billion a year on our infrastructure budget so we’ll have to make that work.”

He also failed to rule out the possibility of the NT Government taking on more debt to see the project through.

Mr Canavan said the NT’s shiplift project was currently in the due diligence stage of being assessed for a NAIF loan.

“I would love to see the shiplift project get funding and will work with the NT Government to try to make that happen,” he said.

“As part of the process, NAIF is working with the NT Government to determine whether the project meets NAIF’s mandated requirements before an investment decision can be made.”

Paspaley CEO James Paspaley said under their 10-year agreement with the Government, which they expect to sign in 2020, the Government will take over ownership of 20ha of Paspaley land at East Arm to build the shiplift.

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The Government has brokered a deal to swap the parcel of land with 10ha of land owned by the NT Government on the other side of the Darwin Port which adjoins another 10ha of land Paspaley owns.