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

Unfortunately, the coalition government has shown once again with last night's budget that they have forgotten about Darwin and Palmerston, the capital of the north. We have had, in the Northern Territory, more bad news, with less GST shown in that budget last night. However, it is still unclear when we will get any of the funding that's been promised for Kakadu National Park. The Territory needs investment now, not in five years time.

There's been a long-promised city deal. The current Prime Minister came to Darwin and said $100 million. You know how much they're giving us in the next financial year—$2.3 million. That is not the investment we need in the far north. Local businesses are crying out for investment. This is another missed opportunity for the Northern Territory and it's not helpful. After six long years of cuts and chaos, this was the current Prime Minister's chance to support the services that everyday Territorians rely on. Instead, Mr Morrison has delivered an election con filled with the same Liberal cuts. In this budget he's failed to reverse cuts to schools and hospitals and failed to reverse cuts to TAFE. It's what we in the Territory would call a gammon surplus, underpinned by cuts to the NDIS. It's a disgrace.