Time has not permitted me to attend the parliamentary hearing in Mount Isa on Thursday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The hearing is for the Senate's Select Committee on the Effectiveness of the Australian Government's Northern Australia Agenda.
It's a worthwhile inquiry as the Northern Australian agenda has resembled tumbleweeds so far.
Not surprisingly Labor says the agenda although remaining vital, has failed to meet expectations.
"An infamous example is the $5 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility or the No Actual Infrastructure Fund, as it's become known in Northern Australia," Labor said this week.
"Launched as the centrepiece policy of the Northern Australia White Paper in 2015, only $50 million has been released from the fund over the past four years, with not a single cent spent in Queensland."
Labor are right to be sceptical of the government's poor record in this regard.
MITEZ used their submission to say how little communication has come from the Northern Australia office.
Mount Isa City Council's submission noted no NAIF funding has gone into its area and while we have seen a big regional deal announced for the Barkly in the NT there has been no similar funding initiative on this side of the border.
I hope this inquiry produces something more tangible than the hot air of the farcical regional airline inquiry.
****
And if you are looking for me in the next couple of weeks, you'll have to travel far from Mount Isa.
I'm on leave until Tuesday October 29 and will be spending some time in Brisbane catching up with family.
But the real highlight will be a week in Norfolk Island, a place steeped in Australian colonial history, and a place I have never been. Be gentle with Sam and Aidan in my absence.
My congratulations in particular to the new Mrs Samantha Campbell who married the love of her life Eddie in New South Wales last week. Best of luck to both, and of course to their darling boy Toby.
See you all on the other side
Derek Barry