New Northern Australia Strategy positions Darwin as hub of Australia-Asia engagement

The Albanese government has released its Northern Australia Strategy, a five-year investment framework committing $1.2 billion to infrastructure, clean energy, trade facilitation, and cultural programs that position Darwin and northern Australia as the primary interface between Australia and the growing economies of South-East Asia, the Pacific, and South Asia.

The strategy's investment pillars cover the Darwin International Airport's expanded international connections, the development of the Port of Darwin as a clean energy export hub, workforce development programs for the growing defence and resources sectors, and a new Australia-ASEAN cultural exchange program to build the people-to-people connections that underpin trade and diplomatic relationships.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese launched the strategy in Darwin, describing the north as the part of Australia where the country's future relationships with Asia would be forged. "Australia's future is in Asia, and Darwin is where that future happens first. We are investing in Darwin because we are investing in Australia's place in the world," he said.

NT Chief Minister Eva Lawler said the strategy was the most substantial Commonwealth engagement with the territory's development potential since the Darwin-to-Alice Springs railway in the early 2000s. She identified the clean energy export ambition — producing green hydrogen and ammonia from the NT's abundant solar and wind resources for export through Darwin to Asian markets — as the opportunity with the greatest long-term transformative potential.

Implementation of the strategy will be overseen by a new Northern Australia Authority with offices in Darwin, Cairns, and Broome, replacing the existing Office of Northern Australia which had limited operational capability.

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