PARTY: Territory Alliance

LEADER: Terry Mills

Gunner government incompetence has managed to reverse the Northern Territory’s 20-year positive average population growth rate of 1.1 per cent by plunging us into an economic crisis for four long years, before the pandemic hit.

Latest ABS data shows a negative growth rate from 2018 to 2019 of 0.4 per cent. We were going backwards before COVID-19, while the rest of Australia was going forward at an average growth rate of 1.4 per cent.

This population trend sends a clear message about what people think about Gunner’s NT: more people are leaving than we are adding.

We were the only jurisdiction in Australia to report a net outflow of overseas and interstate migrants.

This damages our economy, erodes confidence, dampens real estate prices, shortchanges us one seat in the Australian parliament, and costs us dearly in the carveup of national funding pools such as GST.

We will reverse Labor’s decline by attracting people to a revived and growing economy. Only Territory Alliance has the policies and credibility to balance prudent and transparent fiscal behaviour with carefully considered economic stimulus.

We will make smart investment decisions, independently assessed for return on investment to Territorians. We will ban fracking and back renewables, because this is where jobs and new business activity will come from.

Current and new residents will be attracted by a thriving 21st century economy, fuelled by renewables, and taking advantage of our proximity to growth markets in Asia. And we will back growth in traditional sectors such as mining, defence, construction, agriculture and tourism through the new co-ordinator general and dedicated business support officers to target new markets and expedite approvals.

Our $300+ million investment in tourism will attract Australian visitors who, like many of us, we expect to fall in love with our natural beauty, our lifestyle, and the new jobs opportunities we build.