If an Abbott government can develop policies to encourage a significant agriculture industry in northern Australia to export to emerging markets in Asia that is a good thing.
If however it is to waste billions on white elephants (to join the long list of these in northern Australia like the Alice Springs to Darwin railway) and put even more public servants in Darwin, then forget it.

Anthony P,
How a rail line from Alice to Darwin can be called a folly is beyond me. As for visions of of a northern food bowl, I'd like to draw attention to the australian mentality towards foresight. The Snowy scheme, Lake Argyle, the pipe lines in W.A. come to mind, why even the Opera House. All these were victims of the australian mentality of short-sightedness but look at these projects now. The food bowl vision is no different. The problem with the australian mentality is that they can't wait for profit to materialise. They have an idea in the morning & if they haven't made a profit by lunch time they see it as a failure yet with Rudd/Gillard & Co & the Goaf they watched mismanagement for years without a blink of the eye. Some mentality indeed !

<< If an Abbott government can develop policies to encourage a significant agriculture industry in northern Australia to export to emerging markets in Asia that is a good thing. >>

Hold AnthonyP, it is nowhere near that simple.

It needs a thorough cost/benefit analysis, and if the benefits don’t come out well ahead of the costs, and that means a conservative estimate of ALL the costs in the long term, then we should forget it.

We also need to be very aware that billions would need to be spent up front before we really start to see a return. And with an ever-greater demand for public money elsewhere, in just about every sector of society, this could be highly problematic.

Ludwig,
with the sort of money you're talking I'd much rather have a conservative Govt investing it than an ALP Govt blowing it.