NT government insists $56 million spent on Project Sea Dragon roads will see a return on investment

The Northern Territory government insists taxpayer money hasn’t been wasted with a $56 million investment supporting a private project now deemed unviable.

With plans to become Australia’s largest prawn farm, Project Sea Dragon had been promoted as creating about 1,000 ongoing jobs in a project spanning up to 10,000 hectares of ponds for black tiger prawn production.

However, a review of the project on Legune Station by proponent Seafarms last week found the plan was “not viable in its current form”.

The Northern Territory government had committed $56 million to upgrading three roads to support the project, including about $17.5 million to provide year-round access to a remote road between Kununurra and the farm in the remote north-west NT.

NT Mining and Industry Minister Nicole Manison today insisted the money was a worthwhile investment in the region.

“That road funding has gone out in good faith and, again, I think that does unlock the region for more economic development and it does create new and exciting opportunities there,” she said.

“It’s important to know that we’re very close to a successful region when it comes to agriculture there in the Ord.

Company plans scaled back pilot project

The NT government’s other investments to support the farm were $32.2 million on upgrades to Gunn Point Road and a further $7 million to build an access road to Bynoe Harbour.

Upgrades on the road to Kununurra, which included the construction of two bridges, also received $63 million dollars in Commonwealth funding.

“These works have improved freight capacity, flood immunity and access, strengthening year-round transport connections for agriculture, resources and pastoral industries, and creating opportunities for future investment and more jobs in the region,” a spokesperson for federal Infrastructure Minister Barnaby Joyce said.

Stakeholders today said their sights were now set on the company’s vision for a scaled-down pilot version of the project, which Seafarms has said could take three years to develop.

The Northern Land Council, which has been engaged in the project on behalf of native title holders since 2016, labelled the delay disappointing, but said local groups were already thinking about how to benefit from the new plans.

“We appreciate the recent transparency from Seafarms, although we wish this could have come sooner,” chief executive Joe Martin-Jard said in a statement.

“Traditional owners and native title holders are straight talkers. They don’t want to be sold pipe dreams.

“The upside of the pilot is that it minimises the impact on country while project feasibility is still being determined.”

The NT government’s plan for post-coronavirus economic recovery focuses significantly on securing private investment, and the ministry had counted the prawn farm among its major projects in the past.

Ms Manison today insisted the government had carried out appropriate checks and balances before making the investment.

“It is important that you develop your regions — that, when you see projects that can open up regions for more investment and more economic development, that you seriously consider them,” she said.

“So there was a lot of work looking at that. That’s why the decisions were made to invest in those roads.’