Mr GUNNER - 2016-04-19
When you assumed the role of Chief Minister, after rolling Terry Mills while he was in Tokyo, the Northern Territory economy was the envy of the nation. The recently released Deloitte Access Economics report paints a damning picture of the three years of failed policies under your leadership. The report states that house prices have stalled, residential rents are being trimmed, car sales have slumped, population gains have dropped right away, job levels are looking fragile and room occupancy rates have slumped. In short, Cinderella has marched back to the ball and handed in her slipper.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the Opposition Leader might be able to pull the wool over the eyes of his Labor Party and union mates, but he cannot pull the wool over the eyes of Territorians.
The unemployment rate in the Northern Territory is 4%, the lowest in the country. If you want to talk about jobs, talk about the jobs being created by this government.
We came to government on 25 August 2014, and the number one issue was cost-of-living pressures. Have we driven down the cost of living? Absolutely. Have we driven down house prices and petrol prices? Absolutely. Have we moderated grocery prices? Absolutely. We set an agenda of lowering the cost of living in the Northern Territory. We set out to lower the cost of housing. We fought, and continue to fight, to keep petrol prices down. This is a positive thing. You want to increase cost-of-living pressures. I do not think Territorians are on board with Labor’s plan.
Talking about the economy, when we came to government there was one working project in the Territory, which was INPEX. You had shut Aboriginal communities down, taken the councils and houses away, killed the live cattle debate, and tourism was at its lowest in 10 years. There were 75 water licences under application which had been waiting to be processed since as far back as 2004. There is some red tape that could have been removed.
It is incorrect for you to discuss an economic agenda because you have nothing to put yourself behind. In contrast, we have diversified the economy with an economic plan which looks at agriculture, Defence, international education and the service and supply sector, with big projects like the shiplift, a $0.5bn project. It looks at mining, because we support mining, and at energy. We support a robust gas industry in the Northern Territory, supported by environmental regulation to protect our environment for many years to come.
For the Leader of the Opposition to talk about the economy and jobs – he has nothing to stand on. Labor gave us a one-shot-in-the-locker economy, which we have been working hard to diversify. He wants to put a wrecking ball through the Northern Territory economy and the cattle, horticulture, gas and mining industries. Who knows what he will do when he tries to kill the tourism industry.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the Opposition Leader might be able to pull the wool over the eyes of his Labor Party and union mates, but he cannot pull the wool over the eyes of Territorians.
The unemployment rate in the Northern Territory is 4%, the lowest in the country. If you want to talk about jobs, talk about the jobs being created by this government.
We came to government on 25 August 2014, and the number one issue was cost-of-living pressures. Have we driven down the cost of living? Absolutely. Have we driven down house prices and petrol prices? Absolutely. Have we moderated grocery prices? Absolutely. We set an agenda of lowering the cost of living in the Northern Territory. We set out to lower the cost of housing. We fought, and continue to fight, to keep petrol prices down. This is a positive thing. You want to increase cost-of-living pressures. I do not think Territorians are on board with Labor’s plan.
Talking about the economy, when we came to government there was one working project in the Territory, which was INPEX. You had shut Aboriginal communities down, taken the councils and houses away, killed the live cattle debate, and tourism was at its lowest in 10 years. There were 75 water licences under application which had been waiting to be processed since as far back as 2004. There is some red tape that could have been removed.
It is incorrect for you to discuss an economic agenda because you have nothing to put yourself behind. In contrast, we have diversified the economy with an economic plan which looks at agriculture, Defence, international education and the service and supply sector, with big projects like the shiplift, a $0.5bn project. It looks at mining, because we support mining, and at energy. We support a robust gas industry in the Northern Territory, supported by environmental regulation to protect our environment for many years to come.
For the Leader of the Opposition to talk about the economy and jobs – he has nothing to stand on. Labor gave us a one-shot-in-the-locker economy, which we have been working hard to diversify. He wants to put a wrecking ball through the Northern Territory economy and the cattle, horticulture, gas and mining industries. Who knows what he will do when he tries to kill the tourism industry.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016