OP-ED
10/05/2020

WE WONT BE FOOLED

The Northern Territory has slid off an economic cliff before.

The year was 1914, an international company recognising the opportunity that existed in the Territory, invested $100’s of millions of dollars (in today’s value) of private money to construct an abattoir in my electorate at Vestey’s Beach.

It was the boldest and largest economic development of its time.
Sadly, within 3 years the venture collapsed reportedly due to cost blowouts during construction, insufficient supply chain infrastructure, overreach by Government and interference by Unions with worker strikes and failed pay negotiations. 

Two out of three Darwinites lost their jobs with the resultant anger and frustration being reported as one of the contributing factors leading to the Darwin rebellion.
Does any of this sound familiar?

Fast forward 100 years and a similar scenario is playing out with the post Inpex construction economic cliff; job losses, market failures, bloated Government and stifling impediments to private sector investment.

Following the Vestey’s collapse and political demise amongst other things, with courage, conviction and the great Territory spirit, we rebuilt and recovered.

We have done it before, and with a change in Government, we will do it again.

However, with a Territory election a little over 100 days away, we will go to the polls without a pre-election fiscal outlook or a budget.
Territorians should not be fooled into believing that we cannot put together a budget without knowing what the federal government is going to do. Eight out of the last ten years we have handed down budgets before the federal government has. Territorians will not be fooled by this political smokescreen. Most are painfully aware of the economic cliff the Territory has slid off in the current term of the Gunner Labor Government.

No voter should accept a Chief Minister or a Treasurer who turn up to interviews and when questioned on what are the levels of debt? Where is the money coming from for the stimulus? Or, where are the savings, to simply reply with “I haven’t got those numbers in front of me”.

It been 18 months since the steaming dead carcase of a report was dropped on Territorians table on the eve of the Christmas period and as the Chief Minister quietly slipped out of the country.  If something wasn’t done urgently, we would hit an insurmountable debt in excess of $35 billion dollars within 10 years. With the current debt level increasing by an eyewatering $4million dollars for every day of the Gunner leadership, we are well on our way.  

The level of economic mismanagement is staggering, indicating a complete disregard for the future of Territorians, our kids and grandkids.
 
This would not be such an issue if our Northern Territory Government had a better relationship with Canberra. One that is far deeper than cheap political rhetoric.
So, what are you lot going to do about it I hear you ask?
 
As the Country Liberals representative in Fannie Bay, I know as a team, the CLP will resurrect a deep and productive Canberra relationship, immediately.

The CLP will be announcing policies with plenty of time for Territorians to have a look at them.

What I can say is it is time to let Territorians realise their full potential. We will be getting out of the way of business, restoring our reputation as a safe place to invest and building confidence in the future of the Territory.

We will be expecting Chief Executives to operate their departments, much like a highly paid CEO of a private company does. They will have targets, efficiencies, and outcome focused productivity gains to reach.

There will be no working school hours for Ministers or creches on the 5th floor.

I for one, if need be, will be rolling my swag out in the office, rolling up my sleeves and doing whatever it takes to get our beautiful Territory off its knees and back on its feet.
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Everyone will have a role and there can be no passengers.
We have done it before. We can do it again.
 
Ends

THE COUNTRY LIBERAL PARTY