I have finally got around to reading this thread ... and imo what a great read it is and such a pleasant change from the bile like short spits of many posts on Politics threads.
Imo, its fair to say Tony Abbott's "northern development" discussion paper has hit the spot of putting out there something worthy of discussion from the current generation of pollies ... its been a long time coming and please Lord may there be more!
My 2c worth to the debate, might there be opportunity to actually engage with the Chinese for co-ordinated agricultural development of Australia's north to become Asia's food bowl? Might such an approach open up other increased trade opportunities?
I remember working on Darwin's "Free Trade Zone" in the mid 80's ... an idea ahead of its time ... then?
