07 August 2014
Northern Australia Taskforce
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
PO Box 6500
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Enclosures
Bid Brochure
Presentation of 23 July to Department Officials
Dear Sir/Madam,
The Northern Australia Cooperative Research Centre Bid Team welcomes the opportunity to
make a short submission to the Green Paper on developing Northern Australia.
The bid team has been bringing together a proposal that has as its purpose an aim to deliver
high impact research that will lower investment barriers and enable significant capital to flow to
development in the north. We have garnered strong support to the need for the work and the
approach we are taking. The key tenets of our proposed program include;
1.
A nation building project within the north and looking north.
2.
Technological innovation for profitable value chains into Asia.
3.
Socially and environmentally sustainable development.
4.
Strong, ongoing and broad regional and aboriginal community ownership, engagement and
benefit.
5.
Transformational and inclusive.
The key points of this submission are:
1.
The bid has strong support from the Western Australian, Queensland and Northern
Territory governments and the multitude of communities that call Northern Australia home.
Industry funding is also being sourced from private companies, rural research and
development corporations and offshore funds with an interest in the geography.
2.
Whilst initially focused more on Agriculture the program has progressively been structured
to provide flexibility and inclusiveness against the needs of the broader development of
Northern Australia. For example the proposed program recognizes that agriculture
(including aquaculture) will play a strategically important role in an emerging but much
broader transformation of the north. Therefore, with agriculture as a foundation the
program aims to provide for diversity and balance in regional economies, be an enabler for
development of trade, assist conserve and sustainably draw on natural resources, create
demand for infrastructure development, work with existing and new businesses, provide a
foundation for improving live-ability of local communities and create demand for new skills.
3.
4.
The program of work being developed aims to provide a platform for:
a.
The sustainable development of Northern Australia from an informed foundation
of good research, informed policy and policy leadership and an understanding of
risks and opportunities.
b.
Addressing the formidable economic, environmental and social challenges and
barriers to investment that have constrained and frustrated development over the
last 150 years.
c.
A collaborative program of research, innovation, education and commercial
partnerships involving investors, governments, industries and communities.
The bid includes a compelling case socially, environmentally and economically. For
example in agriculture alone Northern Australia currently represents over 46% of the total
Australian area of agricultural activity but under 13% of the value of agricultural production
at farm gate (source: Agricultural commodities, Vol 13, No 4, December Quarter 2013). Closing
only some of that gap would require billions in investment, build more sustainable
communities and with good underpinning research sustainably draw on abundant natural
resources in the north.
5. The Coalition’s 2030 Vision for Developing Northern Australia (Liberal Party of Australia,
2013) flagged the importance of northern Australia. The Green Paper released in June
(Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2014) sets out six policy priorities for northern
Australia: Infrastructure, Land, Water, Business Trade and Investment, Education Research
and Innovation, and Governance.
The AgNorth CRC draws together the best partners and collaborators to address these six
policy priorities within an integrated program structure. The focus is on new agriculture,
horticulture and aquaculture enterprises and industries for growing Asian and other
markets. AgNorth will find innovative solutions to supply chain, infrastructure, investment
risk, labor force, social license, property rights, climatic, environmental and governance
challenges faced by these sectors. These opportunities and challenges constrain the
development of northern Australia generally, and the supply chain solutions, policy ideas
and investment models developed by the AgNorth CRC will be applicable well beyond
agriculture. This CRC will either deliver, or support the achievement of, all 23 policy
initiatives set out in Table 1 of the Green Paper and leave a legacy of knowledge and
capability for a prosperous future in the north.
Table 1: AgNorth CRC and the 2030 Vision for Developing Northern Australia
Green Paper Policy area
Infrastructure
Land
Water
Business, trade
and investment
Education,
research and
innovation
Governance
CRC will
deliver:
CRC will
contribute to:
Productive new infrastructure
Better use of existing infrastructure
Better planning and understanding of
infrastructure opportunities and benefits
Diverse and longer pastoral leases
Flexible leases for Indigenous landholders
Efficient native title processes
More accessible information
New infrastructure to support industries
and communities
Comprehensive water resource assessments
Best practice planning and management
Water markets
Deregulation agenda for the north
Workforce availability and skills that meet
business needs
New markets and greater trade links
Innovative business-friendly policies
Building capabilities and skills
Partnerships with world leading institutions
More international students
Effective engagement with international
development in the region
Collaboration across governments
Effective engagement with, and presence in,
northern Australia
Efficient service delivery
Capable and sustainable local institutions
The north of Australia has aspirational regional and Indigenous communities, and significant land
and water resource opportunities. With an innovative and transformational approach to regional
and agricultural development in the north, founded in leading edge production and
environmental technologies and driven by a commercial approach, Australia can ‘change the
game’ and the economics of northern agriculture to take advantage of the region’s proximity to
growing high value markets now and in the future (RIRDC, 2014).
Low population density, large geographic area, harsh environment, multi-interest land tenures,
constrained workforce capabilities, limited digital access, inadequate infrastructure and pockets
of regional development have characterized the historical high-risk profile for investment in the
north. In addition, the North’s significant Indigenous population, often living in very remote
communities, faces major social and economic impediments to realizing their aspirations.
Transforming the economic prospects of the north is a ‘wicked problem’ that requires the
critical mass of intellectual effort, collective investment, resources and expertise of the
consortium of public and private CRC partners; all working together with northern regional
businesses and communities. The platform of a 10 year CRC is an ideal mechanism for public and
private partnerships to co-create and apply solutions for the north.
Unlocking the north for investment is a ‘must-have’ for development. The region is
characteristically high-risk, reducing its attractiveness for local and foreign capital investment.
The AgNorth CRC will deliver high impact research to lower investment risk through
substantially increasing and improving the accessibility of credible (tested) knowledge,
appropriate business models and regulatory planning tools that are uniquely designed for the
north and facilitate access to Asian markets.
Corporates and SMEs looking to develop northern enterprises, through partnerships with the
AgNorth “Shop Front”, will have access to strong brokerage, science and technical capability,
links to the forefront of private and public knowledge on northern business development, new
northern production systems and supply chain design to maximize their chances of success.
They will benefit from the support which comes from a critical mass of institutions and
enterprises joining forces to address shared barriers to development in the region.
The bid proposal offers the opportunity for a long term research commitment enabling many of
the seemingly intractable issues about northern development to be addressed. The bid was
completed to a near compliant form under the existing Cooperative Research Centre framework
on 3 July 2014 in line with the original round 17 timetable for new applicants. All founding
partners have since committed further cash and in kind resources to continue to strengthen the
bid through the rest of the northern white paper process.
It is the view of the bid team and backers that a real opportunity exists to bring entrepreneurial
ingenuity and public investments in science, technology development and policy coordination
together in Northern Australia for the benefit of Northern Australia, broader Australia and the
Asia Pacific region. This would establish a strong foundation based on collaboration, high
impact science and research and deliver the best chance we have of attracting the significant
private capital needed to realize the opportunities in Northern Australia.
The enclosed brochure and presentation is provided to give a little more context.
Yours sincerely
Michael Guerin
Chief Executive Officer