The White Paper on Developing Northern Australia was a White Paper produced by the Abbott Government to examine ways to invest in economic development of the north of Australia. The paper concerned parts of Australia north of the Tropic of Capricorn, from Western Australia, through the Northern Territory and into Queensland.
The Paper
In June 2015, the Abbott Government released the first ever White Paper on Developing Northern Australia. The Paper contained policy proposals for the development of the north as an "economic powerhous" over the next two decades, and examined new roads, studies of dam sites, changes to land-use laws as part of a development blueprint.
Elements of the push for northern development included boosting links with the Asia-Pacific economies; a $600 million roads package; money to upgrade airstrips and explore rail freight options; a $100 million beef roads fund and a $5 billion concessional loans facility; a $200 million water infrastructure fund and a plan to study river systems for dams viability; support for native title bodies and new surveys to start simplifying land arrangements for economic investment; and a $75 million Cooperative Research Centre.