Chief’s tick of approval

Leaders back Economic Commission, but want to see more

THE Territory’s major industry groups have welcomed the announcement from Chief Minister Michael Gunner of his new nine-member Territory Economic Reconstruction Commission.

However, some say more still needs to be done to lift the Territory out of its economic black hole.

The Commission is made up of nine respected bureaucrats and business leaders, and has been tasked with figuring out a plan for producing 35,000 Territory jobs and growing the economy to $40 billion within a decade.

Chamber of Commerce chief executive Greg Ireland commended Mr Gunner on the “step forward” but said he hoped it would lead to real action. “It’s certainly a positive step forward. There’s certainly some quality names there,” he said.

“I’m very keen for this to be more than just a talk fest and I really do believe those people contribute in a significant way.”

Minerals Council of Australia NT executive director, Drew Wagner, said he was “encouraged” by the announcement, while Hospitality NT chief executive Alex Bruce also threw his support behind it.

“We look forward to working with the commission to highlight the many opportunities to grow the NT’s minerals sector to drive economic growth and create new jobs,” Mr Wagner said.

“We support all measures that drive economic activity,” Mr Bruce agreed.

Master Builders NT chief executive David Malone commended the move but also called for further action “today and tomorrow”.

“We say big tick for yesterday’s announcement,” Mr Malone said.

“We also think there’s two things the Government should look at doing which haven’t been announced yet – the installation of both a co-ordinator general and an infrastructure commissioner.

“A co-ordinator general is someone whose job is to fasttrack private investment … and an infrastructure commissioner’s job is to go ‘what are the next package of public projects we might need?’ ” Mr Malone said.

“Do we want to build roads? Accelerate beef roads, for example? Who’s doing that big picture stuff? In a way we have to walk and chew gum today, the challenge (of repairing the NT’s economy) is so big.”