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

Today trade and investment opportunities in the Northern Territory are in the spotlight in our federal parliament, with a massive delegation of Territorians, business people and industry leaders here in the nation's capital to speak with ministers and shadow ministers. We are having forums today on a range of issues that are important to the Territory and important to the nation.

It's great to have around 250 Territory leaders down here. We're talking about creating jobs. We're also talking about strengthening the national security of our nation and the trade opportunities for our nation. Forum discussions today are focusing on the Darwin ship lift project; the Darwin Cities Deal; defence and national security infrastructure; Aboriginal education; natural gas; and Kakadu tourism development.

In many of these areas, those opposite—the federal government—have made commitments. In some areas we have seen some slippage. So the Northern Territory government, along with industry, are here today just to engage with government and shadow ministers in a very positive way on how we can optimise the Northern Territory's role in our nation. National security is a big part of that, and it was great to see you up in Darwin recently, Deputy Speaker Hogan. Thank you for coming to Darwin.

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