Bill
Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment Bill 2026
passed, as at 2026-06-30. Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts portfolio.
- Sponsor
- Not recorded
- Portfolio
- Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts
Recorded stages
- introduced — 2026-03-04
- second reading — 2026-03-04
- second reading — 2026-03-10
- other — 2026-03-10
- second reading — 2026-03-11
- second reading — 2026-03-11
- other — 2026-03-11
- committee — 2026-03-11
- third reading — 2026-03-11
- introduced — 2026-03-12
- second reading — 2026-03-12
- second reading — 2026-06-30
- second reading — 2026-06-30
- committee — 2026-06-30
- third reading — 2026-06-30
- passed — 2026-06-30
- royal assent — 2026-06-30
Divisions
- Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment Bill 2026 - Report from Federation Chamber - Prohibited financial assistance — 2026-03-11, House of Representatives: negative, ayes 7, noes 71
- Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment Bill 2026 - Consideration in Detail - Climate and First Nations — 2026-03-11, House of Representatives: negative, ayes 7, noes 68
- Dean Smith Northern Australia is not a distant frontier; it is central to Australia's prosperity, security and future growth. That is why the coalition supports the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment Bill 2026, extending the NAIF for a further 10 years from 30 June 2026 to 30 June 2036. The coalition established the NAIF in 2016 because we recognised the enormous economic contribution of northern Western Australia and the wider north. Northern Australia covers more than half the continent but is home to just 5.1 per cent of all Australians, yet it produces well above its population share through mining, energy, agriculture, tourism, logistics and exports. In Western Australia, that contribution is unmistakeable. The Pilbara is one of the great economic powerhouses of the world. Its ports, mines, gas fields, roads, airports and energy systems help drive Australia's export income and national prosperity. The Kimberley is rich in agriculture, pastoral production, tourism, aquaculture, resources and First Nations culture. From Broome to Kununurra, it carries enormous potential but also enormous infrastructure challenges. That is why the NAIF matters so much. Since its establishment, the NAIF has helped bridge financing gaps and deliver infrastructure projects that might otherwise never proceed. It has supported projects across agriculture and water, energy, resources, transport and, importantly, social infrastructure. As at December 2025, the NAIF had supported 33 projects backed by $4.3 billion in commitments. Those projects are forecast to generate $33 billion in public benefit—around $7.60 for every dollar of NAIF finance—and support more than 18,000 jobs across northern Australia. The independent review into the NAIF confirmed what regional communities already know: the NAIF is trusted, effective and regarded as a highly valued institution. Stakeholders describe it as part of the northern Australia ecosystem, with the review's first recommendation — 2026-06-30, Senate: negative, ayes 20, noes 31
- Sue Lines The question now is that the second reading be agreed to. — 2026-06-30, Senate: affirmative, ayes 28, noes 10
- Susan McDonald by leave—I move the amendments on sheet 3901 as foreshadowed in my speech: (1) Schedule 1, item 1, page 3 (lines 4 and 5), omit the item, substitute: 1 Section 8 Repeal the section. (2) Schedule 1, item 13, page 5 (line 1), omit "Reviews", substitute "Periodic reviews". (3) Schedule 1, item 13, page 5 (lines 2 to 12), omit subsections 43(1) and (2), substitute: (1) The Minister must cause a review of the operation of this Act to commence as soon as practicable after: (a) 30 June 2031; and (b) each fifth anniversary of 30 June 2031. Slade Brockman The question is that amendments (1) to (3) on sheet 3901 be agreed to. — 2026-06-30, Senate: negative, ayes 20, noes 30
- Penny Allman-Payne I move the Greens' amendment on sheet 3685: (1) Schedule 1, page 3 (after line 5), after item 1, insert: 1A At the end of Part 2 Add: 8A Prohibited financial assistance (1) Financial assistance must not be provided under this Act if it would: (a) directly finance the extraction of coal or natural gas; or (b) directly finance the construction of pipeline infrastructure primarily for the extraction of natural gas; or (c) directly finance the logging of native forests. (2) In this section: _native forest_ does not include a plantation. _plantation_ means an intensively managed stand of trees that is created by the regular placement of seedlings or seed. I will speak briefly. The Greens are not going to support this bill unless this amendment is successful, because we are of the view that public money should not be spent on coal and gas—on fossil fuels—and on native forest logging. Last year I went to the Great Northern Conference, and, at that conference, I heard from a vet who lives in Tennant Creek. She talked about the year that they'd experienced, a couple of years ago, where they had the number of hot days that they will continue to experience if the global temperature rises by more than 1.5 degrees. She talked about the impact that that warming had had on that community. That term—where they had day after day after day of extreme heat—became known as 'fight term' in the local school, because kids couldn't get cool, tempers flared and they had fight after fight after fight. The consequence of that, at the end of the year, was that there was a mass exodus of teachers from that community. In addition to the teachers leaving, other people then left because they were partners of those teachers. So they lost other critical workers in their town. The following year, they had temperatures that were high, and, again, it massively decimated their community. That community has not recovered from a summer of temperatures consistently warmer as a consequenc — 2026-06-30, Senate: negative, ayes 11, noes 26
- Slade Brockman The question now is that the bill stand as printed. — 2026-06-30, Senate: affirmative, ayes 26, noes 10
- Nita Green I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Slade Brockman The question is that the bill be read a third time. — 2026-06-30, Senate: affirmative, ayes 29, noes 10
Plain-language summary
Written by a model from the explanatory memorandum; not the record, as at 2026-03-04.
The bill would extend the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility's investment decision-making period by ten years, to 30 June 2036.
It would require the NAIF Board to notify responsible ministers of any failure to comply with the Investment Mandate and empower ministers to direct corrective action.
The bill would also require statutory reviews of the NAIF's operation by 30 June 2029 and 30 June 2034.
- Extends the NAIF's investment decision-making period from 30 June 2026 to 30 June 2036.
- Requires the Board to notify ministers of non-compliance with the Investment Mandate.
- Confirms that non-compliance does not invalidate any transaction.
- Empowers ministers to direct the Board to explain and correct non-compliance.
- Implements joint ministerial responsibility for the NAIF.
- Requires statutory reviews by 30 June 2029 and 30 June 2034.
The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, its Board, and the responsible ministers.
Sources
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