Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Grayndler for this matter of public importance on nation-building infrastructure. It's an important one for the Northern Territory and for the North in general. I will focus on the North and on the NT in particular. It's very obvious to Territorians that this government lacks vision and commitment to Northern Australia, and the investment statistics that I will go into in a short while show that. They also show that the government's rhetoric is different to its actions.

Why have the government failed to invest in nation-building infrastructure? I don't know; it's a question for those opposite. I could suggest that perhaps their arrogance, their focus on themselves, their vision and their internals have meant that they've had no national vision for infrastructure development. I've got plenty of local examples from my electorate. The member for Grayndler referred to the leak from within their own side about the Darwin City deal, and I will get to that. There's also been the NAIF, which has been very slow to get funding out the door—in fact, only one project and a small amount of money for the Humpty Doo Barramundi farm. This is obviously very welcome, but very little has been done in the Northern Territory.

The Defence spend, like most of the infrastructure spend, is being pushed out into the never-never, into the years out to 2022, when we really need infrastructure funds to be flowing into our community now. The budget forward estimates show that the federal government will be investing $222 million in Northern Territory infrastructure in 2018-19, and that figure will fall over each of the following four years to $61 million in 2021-22. That is a whopping 75 per cent reduction over four years!

Infrastructure spending in the Northern Territory under those opposite is falling off a cliff—a 75 per cent reduction. It is unfathomable. No government that claims to be a government for all Australians could treat the Territory or any of its jurisdictions in that way. It's an absolute disgrace. Over the past four years, less than a third of what was promised has come to fruition. There's been $224 million less delivered than was promised. The underspends are everywhere, particularly on major road projects like the Black Spot Program and on the Bridges Renewal Program and the promised Northern Australia Beef Roads Program. Those programs have had massive underspends. In other words, those opposite make big announcements, the rhetoric is that there's be hundreds of millions of dollars for these roads projects, but it just doesn't come to pass. Every major federally funded project currently underway in the Northern Territory was identified and funded by the former federal Labor government. Despite being in office for over five years, the federal coalition still hasn't initiated one new major project for the north. So the rhetoric about the critical gateway to Asia, the food bowl and connecting Australia through these roads is just not happening in the Northern Territory.

I mentioned the Darwin City Deal. There could be many examples of how those opposite are not supporting my electorate, in Darwin and Palmerston, or the rest of the Northern Territory, but I think the Darwin City Deal is the most stark example of this government's failure to invest in nation building infrastructure in the capital of the north. We need that City Deal for Darwin, and Territory businesses are sick and tired of the political game playing. It's been 554 days since it was promised. We know from internal leaks from that side that for the Darwin City Deal they're going to meet the NT government's $100 million with $100 million from the federal government, but it has not been signed. So it's of no use to us. We need the funds, and I call on the Prime Minister to come to Darwin and sign the Darwin City Deal.

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