Rethinking the north

Long term colleague of the Development in the Tropics Team, Dr John Coyne is co author of recent report that frames Northern Australia as a developing economy within a developed nation.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) report outlines Northern Australia is central to the nation’s future, it serves as a gateway to Indo-Pacific trade, a hub of world-class resources, has significant natural resources and untapped potential of a youthful population and space. Strategically, it forms the keystone of Australia’s defence posture.

Yet the region continues to face entrenched challenges: limited private investment, low local benefit from major projects, workforce and service shortfalls, and rising public safety concerns.
The Northern Australia Action Plan 2024–2029 sets out a refreshed agenda to drive economic development and align government priorities with the region’s success. While it addresses many pressing needs, the plan remains framed largely within nationwide policy models rather than tailored to the north’s unique circumstances.

The authors suggest that recognizing the characteristics of the north’s developing economy “isn’t a call for pity or protection—it’s a call for ambition. The opportunity is not just to close gaps but to build something better: a region defined not by disadvantage but by leadership in the most important national missions of our time.” It demonstrates why one size fits all national policy models have failed and looks to regionally anchored solutions.

Ten years on from the Australian Government’s 2015 Our north, our future: White Paper on developing northern Australia, and four years since the 2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan, the ASPI report reminds us “The structural, demographic and economic distinctions that set the north apart from the southern states shouldn’t be viewed as failures. They are, in fact, the very indicators of untapped national opportunity. Those differences highlight where targeted investment, policy innovation and new governance models can unlock long-term growth—for the region and the nation as a whole.”
You can read the full report.

AUGUST 2025