Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Macdonald is correct. Today I will be joining Senator Scullion at a Facing North initiative, done in cooperation with the Northern Territory government—they are here in the building today. The Chief Minister, Michael Gunner, is here and I welcome him to Canberra. This evening, here in Canberra, we will promoting the great investment opportunities that there are in the Northern Territory. Another big thing the government is doing is our defence white paper process, which is putting a lot of investment into Defence assets in northern Australia, including the Northern Territory. Twenty billion dollars is earmarked for the Northern Territory over the next 20 years. Most importantly, we are ensuring that that investment, the billions of dollars of investment, is broken down so that small and local businesses can tender for it. I recognise the work Senator Payne did in this regard. It is already bearing fruit. I have met with businesses from the Master Builders Association just this week, who have already won contracts, thanks to the efforts of the government to support small businesses in the Territory.