ABC AM
Sabra Lane: West Australia and Northern Territory and Queensland Governments are hosting a Northern Australia Investment Forum in Cairns. The Federal Government says 110 overseas investors will be attending the event, providing the opportunity for them to talk face to face with companies and government representatives here about a range of projects from water and energy, to infrastructure and labour. The Federal Trade Minister Steven Ciobo will be there and he joins us now from Cairns. Minister, good morning and welcome.
Steven Ciobo: Good Morning.
Sabra Lane: The last forum was held two years ago in Darwin in 2015, are you able to quantify how much new business was done as a result of holding that forum?
Steven Ciobo: What this forum does is provide an opportunity for potential investors, joined together with project proponents. We saw two years ago, with the Darwin project, that there were direct investments off the back of the exposure the people had through that forum. It's part of delivering upon the Government's vision about making sure we build the huge economic potential of Northern Australia, as was outlined in 2015 in the white paper on Northern Australia.
Sabra Lane: Those direct investments that occurred, are you able to quantify how much it's benefited Australia's bottom line?
Steven Ciobo: That's what I just said to you. We do see projects that come directly as a direct consequence of the exposure that we see through these investment forums. Like anything, this is a start of a conversation for some project proponents. For others, it's an opportunity to then capitalise on that investment potential. It goes back to the broader point that I made, which is that we see huge incredible potential in Northern Australia. We know that there are investors from around the world that are looking for opportunities to tap into that investment potential and this creates a great opportunity to showcase our potential.
Sabra Lane: Sure, but I guess what I'm asking is, are you able actually to put a dollar figure on how much investment came to Australia last time?
Steven Ciobo: We've seen multiple projects that have been invested. It depends on what stage of those projects you want to talk about. The point is though that, yes, we do see a direct correlation between the ability to showcase projects and investment that happens from it.
Sabra Lane: With today's forum, are there actually any Queensland Government Ministers scheduled to attend, or is the timing now awkward given it's the final week of the State Election campaign now?
Steven Ciobo: Understandably, given caretaker conventions, we're not seeing Queensland Ministers there. We have got strong representation though, across the board. We've got representation from Western Australia, from the Northern Territory, although we don't have Queensland Ministers, there are, of course, representatives from the various agencies within the Queensland Government that will have responsibility for steering a number of these projects.
Sabra Lane: The Government has set up the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund since the last investor forum was held. That fund has approved one project in 16 months and that's in WA and that's yet to gain the State Government's final approval there. Is the long approval time for NAIF funded projects what the Government actually envisaged?
Steven Ciobo: What we've seen and I've had discussions with NAIF, the Northern Australia Investment Fund, and looked at opportunities in relation to that. Part of the challenge is, of course, to have projects that are bankable given due diligence. Understandably, given that we're talking about taxpayer's dollars, we want to make sure that there is an appropriate level of due diligence that's undertaken before taxpayer's dollars are invested. Now, that means that we want to be very sure about the projects that are being financed, or having finance, applied to them. That's the reason why we've seen, and I think it's appropriate, that they're exercising prudence with respect to taxpayer's funds. Ultimately, we know that this will see taxpayer money invested in worthwhile projects. Projects that stack up and projects that will make a strong economic contribution not only to Northern Australia, but indeed across the Australian economy.
Sabra Lane: Is the fund taking its time knowing that it's controversial, and knowing that the productivity commission has already had given it a shot across the bow as a warning that, as you point out, these projects have to return some sort of good value to taxpayers?
Steven Ciobo: I think that they're applying prudence as all taxpayers would expect them, when it comes to the exercise a taxpayer fund.
Sabra Lane: One project investors are keeping an eye on for clues on how Australia does business, is the Adani Carmichael mine. The North Australia Infrastructure Fund is considering a loan to support the rail link there, yet the UN's former Chief Negotiator for Climate Science, Christiana Figueres says underwriting that loan would have serious negative impacts for Australia's international reputation, and unpick the progress of the Paris Agreement. What's your response?
Steven Ciobo: I've seen those reports and frankly, I find them curious. The reason I find them curious is because they seem to operate in a vacuum. What I mean by that is that, as we've said consistently, the fact is that Australia's coal, is coal that has a high calorific content. It burns more efficiently and more effectively than coal from other nations, that would be alternatives in the absence of Australia. It will be growth, the jobs and the opportunity from this. Those sorts of comments exist in a vacuum because they disregard that in the absence of Australia doing this, in the absence of Australia providing much better, clean burning coal than, for example, other countries, the actual economic impact, I should say the actual environmental impact, would be much worse than using Australian based coal.
Sabra Lane: Government backbencher George Christensen is listed to attend today's forum. What do you think of his threat to cross the floor to support Labor in establishing Royal Commission into the banks?
Steven Ciobo: I've seen a lot of media speculation over many, many years about what people will do or won't do and what I'd rather focus on is what they actually end up doing. The fact is, when it comes to banking conduct, the Government is absolutely getting on with the job. We've given more money and more teeth to the banking regulators, in particular, to both ASIC and to APRA. We've put in place a suite of new powers, which they can use to effectively govern banking conduct. A Royal Commission would do nothing except have an intense focus, a lot of money spent on it, which ultimately, would generate recommendations and those recommendations are exactly the types of things that the Government is getting on with doing.
Sabra Lane: Those actions aren't enough to assuage your back bench. LNP's Barry O'Sullivan is drafting a Bill to get support to hold such an inquiry and he thinks that there will be quite a few Nationals who will cross the floor. That would be damaging for the Coalition if that eventuates, won't it?
Steven Ciobo: Again, you'll see at the very core of your question is an assertion about what may or may not happen. As I've already indicated, our focus is upon dealing with -
Sabra Lane: Do you think they're bluffing?
Steven Ciobo: I think we focus on what people actually do and I make the point again the Government is getting on with the job of making sure we have stronger regulation and more teeth given to our regulators that look at banking conduct. A Royal Commission will do nothing except provide a lot of money to lawyers for a specified period of time to come up with the report and recommendations. The exact type of recommendations that result in action, and the action that the Government's taking right now, the action of giving ASIC more powers, of giving ASIC more money, of putting in place more prudent frameworks to govern banking behaviour, that's getting on with the job today, rather than leaving it for a couple of years at the end of a Commission.
Sabra Lane: Trade Minister Steve Ciobo thanks for joining AM.
Steven Ciobo: Good to speak with you.