A $5 billion fund that promised to turn northern Australia into an economic powerhouse has spent less than $40 million in its first four years, and none of the money has landed in Queensland.
Just three projects have received funding from the controversial Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF), which was established in 2015 under Tony Abbott.
The scheme put aside $5 billion for concessional loans to help grow private infrastructure projects in the nation's north.
But only a fraction of that money — $38.5 million — has been spent, according to figures released by Queensland Senator Matt Canavan yesterday.
Shadow Minister for Northern Australia, Senator Murray Watt, said it would take the government 500 years to distribute all the money at its current rate.
"I think that's a shocking indictment on this government's ability to get infrastructure projects happening, get jobs created, and get the economy right across northern Australia, including far-north Queensland, going," Senator Watt said.
Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-20/low-spend-on-northern-australia-infrascture-projects/11530512
