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Historic agreement, compensation for the land flooded by Lake Argyle, a brighter future - the agreement signed last Thursday that gives native title and heritage clearance for Ord Stage II was all of those things.
It was not a green light for development of Stage II however.
As Acting Premier Ripper said in the food queue at the function: "There are still plenty of hurdles to cross."
The biggest one would seem to be funding - after all, we've had enough environmental impact statements, feasibility studies and the like to keep a paper mill in business.
Forget blaming the NT - we've got plenty of land on this side of the Border ready to go.
If the State Government can pay out $57 million to make native title go away, surely it has a few bucks left over to start some work on infrastructure.
It was quick to park out dollars to see if it could pinch our water; maybe it could spend a little on development that could see pressure go off the south as the north blooms. |
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