Ms WALKER - 2010-02-17
The most recent Sensis Business Index showed Territory small and medium businesses have the highest levels of confidence in Australia about business prospects for the next 12 months. Could you please advise the House what you have learned about business confidence in the Territory since becoming minister?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for her question. The Sensis Business Index is one of the largest survey tracking companies measuring small to medium business enterprises. It is Australia’s leading information source.
In their December report, they reported the Northern Territory does have the highest confidence rating in the nation. These are businesses, 150-odd businesses throughout the Northern Territory, which expressed a view on the confidence they have in the way the economy is going. They expressed their confidence at a rate of some 69% nett, which is above the national average of 52%. The economy is very strong in the Northern Territory, despite the global economic crisis.
Just this lunchtime, I was at the Chamber of Commerce, discussing with them where things were going. The issues being discussed were issues of growth, of confidence, of businesses wanting to invest into the future in the Northern Territory. They are challenges of a growing, successful, prosperous economy - a far cry from some other economies throughout the rest of the nation.
Territory businesses also experienced the largest increase in profitability for the quarter, equally with the ACT. That is a great result for those local businesses as well. It also shows that the Northern Territory is certainly punching well above its weight. After I became minister, I visited many businesses in the New Year, at Casuarina, Palmerston, in the light industrial area, and in the CBD. People are confident about where the Territory is going, and where we are going in the next 12 months. We are obviously looking at these major projects coming to the Territory, and we are engaging with business, engaging with the representative groups in all the various sectors to accommodate the challenges which will come from those major projects.
This is about good government in the Northern Territory. This is about the Labor government delivering for business here. They are confident about it, and they are certainly confident about us leading them into the future.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for her question. The Sensis Business Index is one of the largest survey tracking companies measuring small to medium business enterprises. It is Australia’s leading information source.
In their December report, they reported the Northern Territory does have the highest confidence rating in the nation. These are businesses, 150-odd businesses throughout the Northern Territory, which expressed a view on the confidence they have in the way the economy is going. They expressed their confidence at a rate of some 69% nett, which is above the national average of 52%. The economy is very strong in the Northern Territory, despite the global economic crisis.
Just this lunchtime, I was at the Chamber of Commerce, discussing with them where things were going. The issues being discussed were issues of growth, of confidence, of businesses wanting to invest into the future in the Northern Territory. They are challenges of a growing, successful, prosperous economy - a far cry from some other economies throughout the rest of the nation.
Territory businesses also experienced the largest increase in profitability for the quarter, equally with the ACT. That is a great result for those local businesses as well. It also shows that the Northern Territory is certainly punching well above its weight. After I became minister, I visited many businesses in the New Year, at Casuarina, Palmerston, in the light industrial area, and in the CBD. People are confident about where the Territory is going, and where we are going in the next 12 months. We are obviously looking at these major projects coming to the Territory, and we are engaging with business, engaging with the representative groups in all the various sectors to accommodate the challenges which will come from those major projects.
This is about good government in the Northern Territory. This is about the Labor government delivering for business here. They are confident about it, and they are certainly confident about us leading them into the future.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016