Ms LEE - 2013-08-20
Can you advise the House what progress the Country Liberal government has made in relation to the election commitment to diversify and straighten the Territory economy, and why this is important for Territorians?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arnhem for her question. Clearly she understands why it is important to have a diversified economy in the Northern Territory and how important regional economies are to the Northern Territory. When we came into government 12 months ago we inherited a one-business economy. There is no doubt we all love the INPEX project, a great world-class project, but it is not an economy.
The former government wanted to turn the entire Northern Territory into a national park. That was fundamentally their goal: shut down everything except that one business. People wanted to farm but could not. They were not allowed to access water. They needed a full-blown EIS to prune a tree. Mining companies struggled. All sorts of things happened. They wanted to drive business from the Northern Territory.
We consider it important not to rely on the fortunes of one business. Our view is we need a diverse and growing economy which provides prosperity for all, not just people who live in Darwin or the major urban centres, but people who live in the regions.
For that reason, we have undertaken a big effort to attract business to the Northern Territory. Some of the things the government has done to date have been incredible.
I pay tribute to my colleague, the member for Greatorex, for his work in tourism. Of course, tourism received a boost in the last budget of another $8m or thereabouts, but the results have been staggering. We have seen, since coming to government, the arrival of SilkAir to the Northern Territory, Air Asia is coming back to the Northern Territory, Philippine Airlines is coming to the Northern Territory and, in November this year, we will see Malaysia Airlines operating international flights from Darwin. That is an incredible achievement because over 11 years we did not see that activity in the Northern Territory and that interest from international carriers.
In our agriculture sector, the member for Katherine has done a superb job making water available for farmers, allowing access to some of the - the work he has done on the Ord and the live cattle trade has been incredible. Mining projects: Sherwin Iron, Western Desert Resources - good on the member for Katherine, he has done a fantastic job.
We believe in a diversified economy ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arnhem for her question. Clearly she understands why it is important to have a diversified economy in the Northern Territory and how important regional economies are to the Northern Territory. When we came into government 12 months ago we inherited a one-business economy. There is no doubt we all love the INPEX project, a great world-class project, but it is not an economy.
The former government wanted to turn the entire Northern Territory into a national park. That was fundamentally their goal: shut down everything except that one business. People wanted to farm but could not. They were not allowed to access water. They needed a full-blown EIS to prune a tree. Mining companies struggled. All sorts of things happened. They wanted to drive business from the Northern Territory.
We consider it important not to rely on the fortunes of one business. Our view is we need a diverse and growing economy which provides prosperity for all, not just people who live in Darwin or the major urban centres, but people who live in the regions.
For that reason, we have undertaken a big effort to attract business to the Northern Territory. Some of the things the government has done to date have been incredible.
I pay tribute to my colleague, the member for Greatorex, for his work in tourism. Of course, tourism received a boost in the last budget of another $8m or thereabouts, but the results have been staggering. We have seen, since coming to government, the arrival of SilkAir to the Northern Territory, Air Asia is coming back to the Northern Territory, Philippine Airlines is coming to the Northern Territory and, in November this year, we will see Malaysia Airlines operating international flights from Darwin. That is an incredible achievement because over 11 years we did not see that activity in the Northern Territory and that interest from international carriers.
In our agriculture sector, the member for Katherine has done a superb job making water available for farmers, allowing access to some of the - the work he has done on the Ord and the live cattle trade has been incredible. Mining projects: Sherwin Iron, Western Desert Resources - good on the member for Katherine, he has done a fantastic job.
We believe in a diversified economy ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016