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

Two weeks ago, the federal cabinet came to Darwin, to my electorate. It was the first time since 2011, when Julia Gillard was the Prime Minister of Australia. A Northern Territorian reflected on that day 13 years ago that it wasn't often the locals saw the leadership of their federal government in action in the Northern Territory. That was often, in recent times, also true. Territorians have seen a step up in action, though, in the last two years and before that from our Prime Minister when he was the opposition leader and now as Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has visited the Territory on no less than nine occasions, which is as many as his three predecessors combined.

Having said that, last week's cabinet visit was also long overdue. I'm very proud that the Labor Albanese government is the one that delivered it. It was a jam-packed few days in Darwin, Palmerston and throughout the Northern Territory. It started bright and early on Wednesday, with infrastructure minister Catherine King, Chief Minister Eva Lawler and NT infrastructure minister Joel Bowden down by Tiger Brennan Drive and the Berrimah Road overpass, which is roaring ahead. It's a $165 million project, jointly funded by the Commonwealth and the Northern Territory governments. It's a project that will improve road safety, reduce traffic delays, particularly at peak hour, and increase traffic flow for better freight connectivity, particularly out to the port. It's already 60 per cent complete. It's a big project. It's a really important one. This project will make the daily commute for 20,000 Territorians a whole lot safer and quicker.

From Tiger Brennan Drive to the Tanami and the road projects out there, our government is ensuring that our region has the funding it needs and deserves to improve roads. This is a big step forward for Darwin's infrastructure and for the Northern Territory. It's a classic example of what two Labor governments can do working together and what we can achieve for the Northern Territory.

That was Wednesday morning. Next I joined the education minister, Jason Clare, along with our Prime Minister, the NT Chief Minister, Eva Lawler, and my mate the NT education minister Mark Monaghan at Stuart Park Primary School for the incredible announcement that public education in the Northern Territory will be fully funded. This is 20 years before it was scheduled to be fully funded. At the moment, Territory schools are funded at only about 74 per cent of the level that David Gonski said that they should be, way behind all the states. This is proof of our government, the Albanese government, leaving no-one behind. A billion dollars will be invested into Territory public schools. That's $700-odd million from us, the Commonwealth, and more than $300 million from the Northern Territory government to make sure that we get all of our public schools in the Northern Territory fully funded to that Gonski level, which is only fair. We are doubling the amount of funding that the Commonwealth puts in to public school funding from 20 per cent to 40 per cent. It's a huge step-up in funding, which, as I mentioned, brings forward by a full 20 years the date by which our schools will be fully funded. That's one whole generation of Territory school kids that will go to fully funded Territory public schools. It was a massive day for the Territory and a landmark day for public education in Australia, following on from the announcement a little while ago of full finding for WA schools.

The education announcement followed on from the previous day's announcement of $4 billion for housing—that's 'billion' with a 'b'—which everyone knows is such an issue in the Northern Territory. With that commitment we will be addressing in a serious way the social determinants of health, which have been driven by poor housing and overcrowding. We're providing people with the security of a roof over their head. The 10-year plan delivers appropriate housing that prioritises jobs for local people and the skills required to do those jobs. That comes on top of our last National Cabinet meeting, in December 2023, where it was established that the Northern Territory, more than any other state or territory in the nation, would benefit from our national hospital's agreement.

Education, health and housing are the fundamentals, and these are the practical differences that can really assist in closing the gap whilst also providing great jobs not only for First Nations Australians but also for Territorians. This demonstrates that our government is committing to working with the government of Chief Minister Eva Lawler up until the next election and beyond, because we want to make sure that the Northern Territory doesn't miss out—that it's not forgotten—and that we can expand the horizons of Territorians into the future.

But these great announcements were just the beginning. It was only 10 am at this point. We still had plenty more, with the health minister, Mark Butler, visiting CareFlight to understand the vital services they provide to Territorians in remote areas through their aeromedical evacuation capability. I can tell you: Territorians are very thankful for the redundancy that comes with an extra aeromedical evacuation helicopter and jet, meaning we can get Territorians to a higher level of medical support when they need it. The trade minister, Don Farrell, visited INPEX to discuss the importance of gas exports to the Territory and to Australia's economy and to meeting our domestic energy needs in the short term. The Minister for Social Services, Amanda Rishworth, attended a roundtable to discuss the disability royal commission's findings and the impacts on Territorians. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles visited the Michael Long Learning and Leadership Centre, and the agriculture minister, Murray Watt, and I met with the Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association to hear about the issues they're dealing with. We want to work in partnership with them.

With the Prime Minister, I also participated in a deeply touching moment of national reflection on how far we have come as a city, 50 years after Cyclone Tracy, which hit in the early hours of Christmas morning in 1974. It was a cataclysmic natural disaster for our nation. Seventy-one people died and more than 600 were injured. Eighty per cent of Darwin was destroyed, and the population was left traumatised. The Prime Minister announced that, working with the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory government, we will honour the memory of those who died and those whose lives were irrevocably changed by that cyclone, with a permanent monument down at Bundilla Beach and a separate art installation memorial at East Point, pointing out to sea, into the harbour, where Cyclone Tracy approached from. The federal government is giving a total of $600,000, split evenly between those two projects—one developed by the survivors and one being built by the City of Darwin.

Later that day, after cabinet met, I joined the Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus, to discuss our work on justice reinvestment—that really important work of diversion for our young people. We don't want our young people going into Don Dale Youth Detention Centre and onto a lifetime pathway that surely ends up in further detention and recidivism. We talked about the work we are doing with not only Larrakia nation and the Danila Dilba health service but also other stakeholders. With Minister Plibersek, we went down to Rapid Creek to talk with Landcare there about the funding we've provided to make sure that our creeks and rivers that flow into Darwin Harbour are much cleaner and free of weeds. That's going to make our harbour cleaner, and the harbour is so important to Territorians. It's a beautiful natural asset and we want to keep it clean. Following that, Minister Bill Shorten conducted a town hall meeting at the Darwin Convention Centre about the NDIS.

So it was an incredibly important day for our northern capital—the capital of the north, Darwin—with all these ministers, under the leadership of the Prime Minister. But they weren't finished yet. There is a rare earth project we are investing in in the Northern Territory, near Alice Springs. It will create real jobs for people not only in Alice Springs but in the surrounding areas. It's important we are providing funding to support the financing of this project, because rare earths are so important throughout the economy. They are important to our sovereignty. We're not only going to mine these rare earths; we're going to process them for a future made in Australia.