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The Federal Government says the Northern Territory will finally see money flow from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) fund after signing a new agreement.
The $5-billion NAIF fund was set up in 2015 but has so far failed to deliver any projects across Northern Australia.
But under the Master Fund Agreement, the Government said all eligible projects before the NAIF would get investment.
Federal Minister for Resources and Developing the North Matt Canavan said the definition of infrastructure had also broadened, so projects under $50 million would not lose out.
"We did actually broaden out that definition to try and capture these things, but I've always remained open to the states and territories and the NAIF for any suggestions to the mandate to help projects get up," Mr Canavan said.
The Minister also gave assurances to Chief Minister Michael Gunner that the Territory's GST return would be protected.
"What we did definitely get out of him [Mr Canavan] today was confirmation that any funds from the NAIF have to come to the Territory if they go to a project in the Territory [and the funds] won't go to the bottom line and won't come off our GST take," Mr Gunner said.
The announcement follows concerns expressed by Mr Gunner about the NAIF's failure to deliver due to the structure of the fund.
"I have raised concerns directly with him [Mr Canavan] now a number of times around the shape of the NAIF, to make sure that projects that go before the NAIF are actually delivered here in the Territory," he said.
"He has taken up on board those concerns, that was the message I gave to him in February in Canberra and the message I gave to him again here today."
Mr Canavan said five projects set to benefit from the fund would be announced by mid-year, but did not say what the projects were or how much they were likely to be granted.
Topics: oil-and-gas, business-economics-and-finance, federal-government, government-and-politics, local-government, nt
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