Mrs AAGAARD - 2005-02-16
Can you please advise the House on how the construction of the $1.6bn ConocoPhillips LNG plant is benefiting local Territory businesses?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nightcliff for her good question. The LNG plant being constructed just on the other side of the harbour is a great story. We can all see this plant going up, and we can all see the workers in and around our community as they knock off work, getting around in their work clothes, and it has been a great success story.
Early projections were that approximately 25% of the work force was to be made up of Territorians, and construction is very nearly at 50%. In talking to Blair Murphy yesterday, he was hoping that the 50% mark would be complete this week. The Darwin economy is very much benefiting in a huge way from the construction activity on the other side of the harbour. There are around 1400 tradespeople employed at that site, about 50% of those from Darwin. The direct cash those people are earning on that project, very large wages, is going back into the economy and back into the pockets of small business.
Small business and business across the Territory are also benefiting directly. Since construction started in June 2003, there have been more than 4500 purchasing orders issued to more than 270 Territory companies, including, to name a few: Coleman’s Printing, Aussie Signs, Reece Plumbing, Nortrade, Blackwoods, Corporate Express - and the list goes on. Another 18 major subcontracts, worth around $240m, have been won by Territory-based businesses including Sunbuild, Thiess, Perkins Shipping, Universal Engineering – and the list goes on. It is great news.
Of the total 1700 people employed at Bechtel, around 630 are living in the camp at Yarrawonga. Another 1000 people, many of whom are Darwinians, are renting in the private market, all of that money is being injected back into the economy.
The construction side is not the end of the story. We have the offshore projects, and the estimate is that around $40m worth of local contracts will be delivered by the Bayu-Undan project. By the end of this project, these contracts will have involved pipe laying, support work, surveying, rock supply, barge crewing, catering, diving, pipe hauling, hydrostatic testing and supply of both fuel and personnel transport. Then there is the ongoing maintenance that will be required offshore. ConocoPhillips estimates that, for the 20-year life of the project, the annual operation expenditure for offshore operations to be around $85m per year. My department believes that around 80% of that is realistic local content target, as well as the $100m per year that will be generated on the onshore economy as a result of the LNG plant.
This is a great project. It was born, and final project go-ahead was commenced, at the time of this government’s watch. There were many doomsayers in the community saying that it would wreck the environment and the harbour and fishing would go up the spout. We even had quite alarming questions on notice in this parliament, with all sorts of allegations about the environmental impacts of this particular project. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Northern Territory economy is finally coming of age, with significant industrial development. We have the Alcan project well under way in Gove. Hopefully, there will be a final investment decision on the trans-Territory pipeline this year. This economy is going very well at the moment. Territory businesses are benefiting during the construction phase and will continue to benefit during the ongoing operational phase.
Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nightcliff for her good question. The LNG plant being constructed just on the other side of the harbour is a great story. We can all see this plant going up, and we can all see the workers in and around our community as they knock off work, getting around in their work clothes, and it has been a great success story.
Early projections were that approximately 25% of the work force was to be made up of Territorians, and construction is very nearly at 50%. In talking to Blair Murphy yesterday, he was hoping that the 50% mark would be complete this week. The Darwin economy is very much benefiting in a huge way from the construction activity on the other side of the harbour. There are around 1400 tradespeople employed at that site, about 50% of those from Darwin. The direct cash those people are earning on that project, very large wages, is going back into the economy and back into the pockets of small business.
Small business and business across the Territory are also benefiting directly. Since construction started in June 2003, there have been more than 4500 purchasing orders issued to more than 270 Territory companies, including, to name a few: Coleman’s Printing, Aussie Signs, Reece Plumbing, Nortrade, Blackwoods, Corporate Express - and the list goes on. Another 18 major subcontracts, worth around $240m, have been won by Territory-based businesses including Sunbuild, Thiess, Perkins Shipping, Universal Engineering – and the list goes on. It is great news.
Of the total 1700 people employed at Bechtel, around 630 are living in the camp at Yarrawonga. Another 1000 people, many of whom are Darwinians, are renting in the private market, all of that money is being injected back into the economy.
The construction side is not the end of the story. We have the offshore projects, and the estimate is that around $40m worth of local contracts will be delivered by the Bayu-Undan project. By the end of this project, these contracts will have involved pipe laying, support work, surveying, rock supply, barge crewing, catering, diving, pipe hauling, hydrostatic testing and supply of both fuel and personnel transport. Then there is the ongoing maintenance that will be required offshore. ConocoPhillips estimates that, for the 20-year life of the project, the annual operation expenditure for offshore operations to be around $85m per year. My department believes that around 80% of that is realistic local content target, as well as the $100m per year that will be generated on the onshore economy as a result of the LNG plant.
This is a great project. It was born, and final project go-ahead was commenced, at the time of this government’s watch. There were many doomsayers in the community saying that it would wreck the environment and the harbour and fishing would go up the spout. We even had quite alarming questions on notice in this parliament, with all sorts of allegations about the environmental impacts of this particular project. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Northern Territory economy is finally coming of age, with significant industrial development. We have the Alcan project well under way in Gove. Hopefully, there will be a final investment decision on the trans-Territory pipeline this year. This economy is going very well at the moment. Territory businesses are benefiting during the construction phase and will continue to benefit during the ongoing operational phase.
Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016