Mr NATT - 2005-08-23
Can you please advise the House on the positive benefits to the Territory’s economy following the announcement of the construction of a bio-diesel facility at the Darwin Business Park?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale for his question. because, oOn 6 July this year, there was a very exciting announcement by Natural Fuels Australia Limited that they were going to build a $77m biodiesel facility at the Darwin Business Park at East Arm. During the construction of that facility we will see more than 100 jobs created. It was a great announcement.
The deal was struck between Vopak, Natural Fuels Australia Limited and the Land Development Corporation. It was the result of two years of hard work by, not only those three parties but other parties, business interests and government support over the last two years. Central to the $77m facility going ahead was the decision by Vopak, whoich is are building the new Darwin industry fuel terminal at East Arm, to secure additional land beside their $55m facility. We are seeing massive investment at the port and this was a great announcement by Natural Fuels.
More than 100 jobs are expected to be created during the construction phase, as I said, and the project is due to get under way in October this year. The CEO of Natural Fuels is a gentleman by the name of Mr Dick Selwood, whom I have met on a number of occasions in the lead- up to this project. I would like to thank Mr Selwood for his confidence and commitment to the Northern Territory. This project is visionary. It is the first biodiesel plant in Australia, and he certainly could have put this plant anywhere in Australia. Any government would have been pleased to secure it for their particular state or territory. However, he has chosen the Northern Territory because of the railway and the proximity to Asia. He sees that this particular facility is going to grow and expand into the future.
It is due to be completed by September 2006.
The way this is going to work is that Natural Fuels are going to import palm oil from South-East Asia for conversion at its biodiesel plant into a green diesel, producing zero sulphur biodiesel and pharmaceutical-grade glycerine.
One of the exciting things that is happening in our economy at the moment, with the construction of the LNG plant, and all the other work out there at East Arm, is the increase in shipping that we are going to see across our harbour. At the moment, even with the Bayu-Undan project, we have seen many rig tenders travelling to and fro across the harbour, additional container shipping lines coming to the Port of Darwin such as Hai Win shipping. When we have the Bootu Creek manganese mine up and running - , and I know my colleague, the member for Barkly, is excited about this as well - , we will see 800 000 tonnes of manganese exported through the Port of Darwin each year. We are also getting pretty close to seeing Frances Creek iron ore exporting through the Port of Darwin. That is potentially one1 million tonnes’ volume of iron ore a year. We have palm oil imports coming in from South-East Asia, as well as seeing LNG tankers on our harbour. We said when the LNG plant was going to be constructed that Darwin Harbour is a working harbour. Well, it is about to get much, much busier.
This plant will be a world-scale facility, producing 130 000 tonnes of biodiesel a year,. and again I congratulate Mr Selwood on this. Importantly, Natural Fuels have also commissioned the expertise of Charles Darwin University for a three month trial to test the benefits of biodiesel in mining, on and off road transport, power generation, and other areas where heavy diesel is used.
This is a good green story, as well as a good industry story for the Northern Territory: $77m being invested in the Northern Territory, 100 jobs in construction, 15 full-time jobs in operation, a big increase in shipping,. It is good news for the Northern Territory, great investment and great confidence in our economy.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale for his question. because, oOn 6 July this year, there was a very exciting announcement by Natural Fuels Australia Limited that they were going to build a $77m biodiesel facility at the Darwin Business Park at East Arm. During the construction of that facility we will see more than 100 jobs created. It was a great announcement.
The deal was struck between Vopak, Natural Fuels Australia Limited and the Land Development Corporation. It was the result of two years of hard work by, not only those three parties but other parties, business interests and government support over the last two years. Central to the $77m facility going ahead was the decision by Vopak, whoich is are building the new Darwin industry fuel terminal at East Arm, to secure additional land beside their $55m facility. We are seeing massive investment at the port and this was a great announcement by Natural Fuels.
More than 100 jobs are expected to be created during the construction phase, as I said, and the project is due to get under way in October this year. The CEO of Natural Fuels is a gentleman by the name of Mr Dick Selwood, whom I have met on a number of occasions in the lead- up to this project. I would like to thank Mr Selwood for his confidence and commitment to the Northern Territory. This project is visionary. It is the first biodiesel plant in Australia, and he certainly could have put this plant anywhere in Australia. Any government would have been pleased to secure it for their particular state or territory. However, he has chosen the Northern Territory because of the railway and the proximity to Asia. He sees that this particular facility is going to grow and expand into the future.
It is due to be completed by September 2006.
The way this is going to work is that Natural Fuels are going to import palm oil from South-East Asia for conversion at its biodiesel plant into a green diesel, producing zero sulphur biodiesel and pharmaceutical-grade glycerine.
One of the exciting things that is happening in our economy at the moment, with the construction of the LNG plant, and all the other work out there at East Arm, is the increase in shipping that we are going to see across our harbour. At the moment, even with the Bayu-Undan project, we have seen many rig tenders travelling to and fro across the harbour, additional container shipping lines coming to the Port of Darwin such as Hai Win shipping. When we have the Bootu Creek manganese mine up and running - , and I know my colleague, the member for Barkly, is excited about this as well - , we will see 800 000 tonnes of manganese exported through the Port of Darwin each year. We are also getting pretty close to seeing Frances Creek iron ore exporting through the Port of Darwin. That is potentially one1 million tonnes’ volume of iron ore a year. We have palm oil imports coming in from South-East Asia, as well as seeing LNG tankers on our harbour. We said when the LNG plant was going to be constructed that Darwin Harbour is a working harbour. Well, it is about to get much, much busier.
This plant will be a world-scale facility, producing 130 000 tonnes of biodiesel a year,. and again I congratulate Mr Selwood on this. Importantly, Natural Fuels have also commissioned the expertise of Charles Darwin University for a three month trial to test the benefits of biodiesel in mining, on and off road transport, power generation, and other areas where heavy diesel is used.
This is a good green story, as well as a good industry story for the Northern Territory: $77m being invested in the Northern Territory, 100 jobs in construction, 15 full-time jobs in operation, a big increase in shipping,. It is good news for the Northern Territory, great investment and great confidence in our economy.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016