Mr BALCH - 1999-11-25
What is his response to the news today that sales growth, profits and capital expenditure in the Northern Territory small business sector surged during the past quarter?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker,it’s excellent news. It would be even better if we could deal with the problem of native title that exists in the Northern Territory. The opposition just pointed to the wonderful result with the settlement between Phillips and the Larrakia people through the assistance of the Northern Land Council. Well, we want to see how good a native title right for hunting and gathering on a small area of land in the Northern Territory is. Tell us how much the settlement was.
It points to the fact that, as the member for Arnhem has said in here, if you want to deal with native title you get out your chequebook. That’s how you deal with native title. So the Leader of the Opposition’s approach to native title issues in the Northern Territory will be simply to get out the chequebook.
We are talking about a point of principle. What is hunting and gathering as a part of right of ownership of land worth? Tell us what the UCV of the land was, then tell us what the final figure was, and we’ll figure out what the hunting and gathering rights are worth. That’s a pretty fair answer, isn’t it? What’s wrong with that? And we’ll all figure it out. Territorians will sit down and say: ‘Was that a good deal?’ Should we be proud of that? Does that point to how a Labor government would deal with native title in the future?
I add that the ability for settlements to be reached between a company and the native title holders is provided for in the legislation that is currently being held up by the Labor Party of the Northern Territory. That is entirely there, that ability, in that legislation. We support that.
The quantum of the settlement is always a worry, because if you have to seal billions and billions of dollars’ worth of development projects you really have to get out the chequebook, as the member for Arnhem says, in order to secure some of this land. And that’s not really the way to do business. Native title rights have never really been established in any court in Australia at this stage. We’re only dealing with: ‘You get out your chequebook. If I figure the money is good enough, we’ll do the deal’. We’ve got to have a better system of land management in the Northern Territory and Australia than that.
Now, I wore my Christmas tie today. I wanted to end Question Time with the good news that came from the Yellow Pages end-of-September quarterly report. It’s particularly important, as I said earlier in response to a question as to how small business views the Northern Territory government. This is the Yellow Pages small business quarterly report. The simple fact is that the Northern Territory government remains easily the most popular with the small business sector, with 48% of proprietors believing that the government’s policies are working for them. This is a massive 61 percentage points higher than the average for Australian state and territory governments. I certainly welcome, as Chief Minister, the confidence the small business community has in the Territory government’s policies. We will continue to deliver in support of their needs.
Another pleasing fact reported is that for the 3 months to the end of October a net 32% of the Territory’s small business proprietors enjoyed sales revenue growth, up from a net 6% in the previous quarter. The number of proprietors reporting profit increases rose nearly as strongly, from a net 6% in the August index to a net 25%. I repeat that - a net 25% in the last 3 months. Capital expenditure, which fell significantly in the previous quarter, rose during the latest 3 months by 16%.
Looking to the year ahead, according to the index, confidence about small business prospects improved by 10 percentage points during the past quarter to a net 59%, well ahead of the 52% national average for small business. Across the nation, the index found that despite excellent spring growth in small business sales and jobs, sales and profit growth expectations for the next 12 months have slumped in every jurisdiction except Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
That’s a little snapshot of how small business views this Northern Territory government and its delivers for business in the Northern Territory.
Today we will wrap up with the last of the Foundations for Our Future documents. This shows the way the government will position itself for the future. We will continue to explain and prioritise government and departmental effort according to the Foundations for Our Future directions over the next 12 months and beyond.
Also, we end this year with the historic news that the railway will be built. As I have said, that in itself is going to be a massive boost to development right across the Northern Territory, to the benefit of all Territorians. The next great project for us is to deliver gas from the Timor Sea into the Northern Territory, and I can tell you that this government is working earnestly to achieve that. We will make sure that we uphold the opinion of Access Economics and continue to be Australia’s ‘pocket dynamo’.
I wish all Territorians listening a joyous Christmas and happy new year.
Mr PALMER (Leader of Government Business): Mr Speaker, before asking that further questions be placed on the Question Paper, I wish you, your good wife Mary and your family a happy, healthy and safe Christmas and new year.
Confidentially - between you and me, Mr Speaker - in the interest of the better and more interesting operation of this House, I am considering slipping the opposition some questions next year, just to improve the standard.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker,it’s excellent news. It would be even better if we could deal with the problem of native title that exists in the Northern Territory. The opposition just pointed to the wonderful result with the settlement between Phillips and the Larrakia people through the assistance of the Northern Land Council. Well, we want to see how good a native title right for hunting and gathering on a small area of land in the Northern Territory is. Tell us how much the settlement was.
It points to the fact that, as the member for Arnhem has said in here, if you want to deal with native title you get out your chequebook. That’s how you deal with native title. So the Leader of the Opposition’s approach to native title issues in the Northern Territory will be simply to get out the chequebook.
We are talking about a point of principle. What is hunting and gathering as a part of right of ownership of land worth? Tell us what the UCV of the land was, then tell us what the final figure was, and we’ll figure out what the hunting and gathering rights are worth. That’s a pretty fair answer, isn’t it? What’s wrong with that? And we’ll all figure it out. Territorians will sit down and say: ‘Was that a good deal?’ Should we be proud of that? Does that point to how a Labor government would deal with native title in the future?
I add that the ability for settlements to be reached between a company and the native title holders is provided for in the legislation that is currently being held up by the Labor Party of the Northern Territory. That is entirely there, that ability, in that legislation. We support that.
The quantum of the settlement is always a worry, because if you have to seal billions and billions of dollars’ worth of development projects you really have to get out the chequebook, as the member for Arnhem says, in order to secure some of this land. And that’s not really the way to do business. Native title rights have never really been established in any court in Australia at this stage. We’re only dealing with: ‘You get out your chequebook. If I figure the money is good enough, we’ll do the deal’. We’ve got to have a better system of land management in the Northern Territory and Australia than that.
Now, I wore my Christmas tie today. I wanted to end Question Time with the good news that came from the Yellow Pages end-of-September quarterly report. It’s particularly important, as I said earlier in response to a question as to how small business views the Northern Territory government. This is the Yellow Pages small business quarterly report. The simple fact is that the Northern Territory government remains easily the most popular with the small business sector, with 48% of proprietors believing that the government’s policies are working for them. This is a massive 61 percentage points higher than the average for Australian state and territory governments. I certainly welcome, as Chief Minister, the confidence the small business community has in the Territory government’s policies. We will continue to deliver in support of their needs.
Another pleasing fact reported is that for the 3 months to the end of October a net 32% of the Territory’s small business proprietors enjoyed sales revenue growth, up from a net 6% in the previous quarter. The number of proprietors reporting profit increases rose nearly as strongly, from a net 6% in the August index to a net 25%. I repeat that - a net 25% in the last 3 months. Capital expenditure, which fell significantly in the previous quarter, rose during the latest 3 months by 16%.
Looking to the year ahead, according to the index, confidence about small business prospects improved by 10 percentage points during the past quarter to a net 59%, well ahead of the 52% national average for small business. Across the nation, the index found that despite excellent spring growth in small business sales and jobs, sales and profit growth expectations for the next 12 months have slumped in every jurisdiction except Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
That’s a little snapshot of how small business views this Northern Territory government and its delivers for business in the Northern Territory.
Today we will wrap up with the last of the Foundations for Our Future documents. This shows the way the government will position itself for the future. We will continue to explain and prioritise government and departmental effort according to the Foundations for Our Future directions over the next 12 months and beyond.
Also, we end this year with the historic news that the railway will be built. As I have said, that in itself is going to be a massive boost to development right across the Northern Territory, to the benefit of all Territorians. The next great project for us is to deliver gas from the Timor Sea into the Northern Territory, and I can tell you that this government is working earnestly to achieve that. We will make sure that we uphold the opinion of Access Economics and continue to be Australia’s ‘pocket dynamo’.
I wish all Territorians listening a joyous Christmas and happy new year.
Mr PALMER (Leader of Government Business): Mr Speaker, before asking that further questions be placed on the Question Paper, I wish you, your good wife Mary and your family a happy, healthy and safe Christmas and new year.
Confidentially - between you and me, Mr Speaker - in the interest of the better and more interesting operation of this House, I am considering slipping the opposition some questions next year, just to improve the standard.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016