Ms LAWRIE - 2003-02-26
The government’s Asian Engagement Plan was launched today. Could you please advise the House on the purpose and benefits of the plan, and its link to generating jobs in the Northern Territory.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Karama for her question. Yes, I was very pleased to launch our Asian Engagement Plan to Territorians at lunchtime today, at a time for government and the people of the Northern Territory to really build on the very strong relationships we have in our Asian region. Our future lies very much entwined with the Asian region. If we all reflect for a moment that, within four hours flying time of a radius out of Darwin, we have in our region 500 million people, an enormous amount of the world’s population. If you fly that similar radius south from Darwin for four hours, discounting Brisbane and Sydney, you pick up a population of less than …
Mr Dunham: Why don’t you bring on a debate and we can talk about this?
Mr HENDERSON: … a million people. I will pick up the comments from the member for Drysdale. He seems to forget that this is the General Business Day of the parliament and he has the opportunity, if he wants, to bring on a debate about Asian engagement. Well, you could have done it, you had an opportunity. However, all we have are snide comments, and I would have thought there would have been bipartisan support for this. I really thought that there would be bipartisan support for our engagement with a very important part of our future.
For the first time, government in the Northern Territory has developed a very comprehensive and strategic plan for engagement with our region. It does complement the trade strategy that we released just before Christmas, and provides a focus for engagement in our region. Now is the time to re-emphasise that focus, particularly in the very difficult global times that we are facing at the moment, and the sometimes rocky bilateral relationship that the Commonwealth has with countries in the Asian region. I give credit to past governments in the Northern Territory, who were many years ahead of their counterparts in southern states in developing those relationships, and they will stand the test of time. Now is the time to build on them, not retreat back behind a fortress Australia-type policy.
That is why, next week, the Chief Minister is off to Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia to build on opportunities for the AustralAsia trade routes, and I am off to the Philippines in a couple of weeks time to build on trading relationships with the Philippines.
Our priorities are engagement with Asia. The plan gives us six key areas that we will focus in: regional petroleum and mining support, real opportunities for our mining service and supply industries in the Northern Territory, not only to win business from the massive mining operations in the Northern Territory, not only the offshore operations …
Members interjecting.
Mr HENDERSON: … but to focus on opportunities in eastern Indonesia. It is a pity that members opposite are not more interested in this. It just goes to show that they are looking backwards at past glories, and not looking forward to the future of the Northern Territory.
The agribusiness sector offers huge opportunities in our trading relationship with Asia, not only in terms of further developing our live cattle industry, but also our fisheries, and other agricultural industries out of the Katherine/Daly region. Regarding the rapid building of trade volumes, I do not need to say any more in terms of the importance of the AustralAsia Railway route, there is a real focus on that.
Also very important is increasing student numbers in the Territory. What is really going to develop in terms of relationships over the years of those people-to-people connections. Over the last three or four years, we have dropped the ball a bit in student exchanges. It is time to pick that up again. I give the NTU great credit, as well as Antoine Barnaart at the NTU, under the new interim Vice-Chancellor. There is a real focus and emphasis on this area, and I have just heard today that tomorrow the NTU will be welcoming 40 students from six countries in the Asian region. There are real opportunities there.
Developing our aviation links is very important, and also our services sector. There are huge opportunities in terms of health and education, and also in the legal community. It is a policy for the future. It is going to give focus to government relationships in the region and, at the end of the day, it is all about relationships, but more so it is all about jobs. It is all about the future of the Northern Territory. I would urge members opposite to be a little supportive, rather than sitting back with snide comments.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Karama for her question. Yes, I was very pleased to launch our Asian Engagement Plan to Territorians at lunchtime today, at a time for government and the people of the Northern Territory to really build on the very strong relationships we have in our Asian region. Our future lies very much entwined with the Asian region. If we all reflect for a moment that, within four hours flying time of a radius out of Darwin, we have in our region 500 million people, an enormous amount of the world’s population. If you fly that similar radius south from Darwin for four hours, discounting Brisbane and Sydney, you pick up a population of less than …
Mr Dunham: Why don’t you bring on a debate and we can talk about this?
Mr HENDERSON: … a million people. I will pick up the comments from the member for Drysdale. He seems to forget that this is the General Business Day of the parliament and he has the opportunity, if he wants, to bring on a debate about Asian engagement. Well, you could have done it, you had an opportunity. However, all we have are snide comments, and I would have thought there would have been bipartisan support for this. I really thought that there would be bipartisan support for our engagement with a very important part of our future.
For the first time, government in the Northern Territory has developed a very comprehensive and strategic plan for engagement with our region. It does complement the trade strategy that we released just before Christmas, and provides a focus for engagement in our region. Now is the time to re-emphasise that focus, particularly in the very difficult global times that we are facing at the moment, and the sometimes rocky bilateral relationship that the Commonwealth has with countries in the Asian region. I give credit to past governments in the Northern Territory, who were many years ahead of their counterparts in southern states in developing those relationships, and they will stand the test of time. Now is the time to build on them, not retreat back behind a fortress Australia-type policy.
That is why, next week, the Chief Minister is off to Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia to build on opportunities for the AustralAsia trade routes, and I am off to the Philippines in a couple of weeks time to build on trading relationships with the Philippines.
Our priorities are engagement with Asia. The plan gives us six key areas that we will focus in: regional petroleum and mining support, real opportunities for our mining service and supply industries in the Northern Territory, not only to win business from the massive mining operations in the Northern Territory, not only the offshore operations …
Members interjecting.
Mr HENDERSON: … but to focus on opportunities in eastern Indonesia. It is a pity that members opposite are not more interested in this. It just goes to show that they are looking backwards at past glories, and not looking forward to the future of the Northern Territory.
The agribusiness sector offers huge opportunities in our trading relationship with Asia, not only in terms of further developing our live cattle industry, but also our fisheries, and other agricultural industries out of the Katherine/Daly region. Regarding the rapid building of trade volumes, I do not need to say any more in terms of the importance of the AustralAsia Railway route, there is a real focus on that.
Also very important is increasing student numbers in the Territory. What is really going to develop in terms of relationships over the years of those people-to-people connections. Over the last three or four years, we have dropped the ball a bit in student exchanges. It is time to pick that up again. I give the NTU great credit, as well as Antoine Barnaart at the NTU, under the new interim Vice-Chancellor. There is a real focus and emphasis on this area, and I have just heard today that tomorrow the NTU will be welcoming 40 students from six countries in the Asian region. There are real opportunities there.
Developing our aviation links is very important, and also our services sector. There are huge opportunities in terms of health and education, and also in the legal community. It is a policy for the future. It is going to give focus to government relationships in the region and, at the end of the day, it is all about relationships, but more so it is all about jobs. It is all about the future of the Northern Territory. I would urge members opposite to be a little supportive, rather than sitting back with snide comments.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016