NAIF should focus on COVID-19 impacted industries in Northern Australia, senate report recommends

NORTHERN Australian industries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic should be prioritised for loans under multibillion-dollar federal government funding designed to spur major construction in the region, a new Senate report has found.

NORTHERN Australian industries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic should be prioritised for loans under multibillion-dollar federal government funding designed to spur major construction in the region, a new Senate report has found.

In its interim report, handed down on Thursday, the Senate committee set up to investigate the “effectiveness of the Australian government’s Northern Australia agenda” was scathing of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.

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Eight of the nine recommendations made were directed at the $5bn NAIF, which was set up in 2016 to provide low-cost loans for infrastructure projects across northern Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

The committee has recommended the federal government undertake a review to determine which industries – particularly tourism, higher-education and agriculture – have been worst impacted by the pandemic and prioritise them for projects.

It was also asked that part of the NAIF be converted into a combination of “small grants, equity stakes and guarantees”, backed by rigorous rules, to ensure small-scale and First Nations projects were supported.

Humpty Doo Barramundi owner-operator Dan Richards. The businesses was approved for a NAIF loan.

This stemmed out of evidence heard during the inquiry that the NAIF’s administration processes were complex, clunky, and difficult to manoeuvre for smaller industry outfits.

The committee has also asked the government to, as a matter of priority in 2021, make law the major changes it had proposed to the NAIF in September, which included giving it the option in some cases to lend directly to project proponents instead of going through state and territory governments.

It also asked for a timeline on when a new five-year plan for Northern Australia would be released, following a group being set up in March.

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It was also recommended bonuses awarded to the NAIF’s executives would be better linked to how much money the program released to projects, as updated figures showed $218.4m of $2.4bn worth of allocated funds had been released.

“Simply put, the committee is concerned that it is taking too long for NAIF funding to get out the door,” the report stated.

The final report is due to be handed down in March 2021.