Mrs FINOCCHIARO - 2015-11-19
Can you please outline how the Country Liberal Party’s plan is delivering positive outcomes for Territorians and whether there are any alternatives?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale for her question. It is a very good question because when we came to government in 2012 the Territory was almost bankrupt. There was $5.5bn in projected debt, and deficit of over $1bn. Look what has happened in the last three years.
We have worked to a point where the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report, produced yesterday, has government in surplus for the first time since 2008. Not only do we have government in surplus, we are rolling out infrastructure across the Northern Territory by driving the northern Australia agenda, upgrading Tiger Brennan Drive, building the Palmerston Regional Hospital and putting $40m into Royal Darwin Hospital for an upgrade.
We are rolling out telecommunications across the Northern Territory and doing up roads, including the Plenty Highway; the straight road; Santa Teresa Road; Tanami Road; Port Keats Road, improving flood immunity; the Central Arnhem Highway; the top road with road works out to Oenpelli; the Tiwi Islands with $33m - there is work going on everywhere.
We now have the lowest unemployment in the nation, the highest labour force participation rate. Businesses are going gangbusters in the Northern Territory - the Chamber of Commerce, NT Farmers Association, NT Cattlemen’s Association - everybody is ringing the praises of the Northern Territory.
This week we announced the gas pipeline to link the Northern Territory to Queensland, building national infrastructure. We also have a study on a railway line between the Northern Territory and Queensland.
Yesterday we rolled out our round of environmental reforms, which will see the strongest environmental protection in the nation. Not only have we been fixing the finances, building the infrastructure and seeing the lowest levels of unemployment and the highest amount of business development in the Northern Territory, we have also managed to make fundamental social changes.
We are making social changes for Indigenous Territorians, putting more people in jobs in the public and private sectors, and we will continue to do it. It does not matter what portfolio you work through, everything is changing for the positive. There are more sports investments and more road and building investments, and the budget is back in surplus. There is more farming with the biggest investment in homelands and outstations we have ever seen. We have restructured local government so we now have regional councils and local authorities fully funded.
We have the biggest Asian engagement we have had in a long time, since before 2001 when Labor first came to government. There is no alternative to what is happening now, other than a dismal failure by the Leader of the Opposition, who was not even good enough to be a minister under the former government.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale for her question. It is a very good question because when we came to government in 2012 the Territory was almost bankrupt. There was $5.5bn in projected debt, and deficit of over $1bn. Look what has happened in the last three years.
We have worked to a point where the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report, produced yesterday, has government in surplus for the first time since 2008. Not only do we have government in surplus, we are rolling out infrastructure across the Northern Territory by driving the northern Australia agenda, upgrading Tiger Brennan Drive, building the Palmerston Regional Hospital and putting $40m into Royal Darwin Hospital for an upgrade.
We are rolling out telecommunications across the Northern Territory and doing up roads, including the Plenty Highway; the straight road; Santa Teresa Road; Tanami Road; Port Keats Road, improving flood immunity; the Central Arnhem Highway; the top road with road works out to Oenpelli; the Tiwi Islands with $33m - there is work going on everywhere.
We now have the lowest unemployment in the nation, the highest labour force participation rate. Businesses are going gangbusters in the Northern Territory - the Chamber of Commerce, NT Farmers Association, NT Cattlemen’s Association - everybody is ringing the praises of the Northern Territory.
This week we announced the gas pipeline to link the Northern Territory to Queensland, building national infrastructure. We also have a study on a railway line between the Northern Territory and Queensland.
Yesterday we rolled out our round of environmental reforms, which will see the strongest environmental protection in the nation. Not only have we been fixing the finances, building the infrastructure and seeing the lowest levels of unemployment and the highest amount of business development in the Northern Territory, we have also managed to make fundamental social changes.
We are making social changes for Indigenous Territorians, putting more people in jobs in the public and private sectors, and we will continue to do it. It does not matter what portfolio you work through, everything is changing for the positive. There are more sports investments and more road and building investments, and the budget is back in surplus. There is more farming with the biggest investment in homelands and outstations we have ever seen. We have restructured local government so we now have regional councils and local authorities fully funded.
We have the biggest Asian engagement we have had in a long time, since before 2001 when Labor first came to government. There is no alternative to what is happening now, other than a dismal failure by the Leader of the Opposition, who was not even good enough to be a minister under the former government.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016