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

Unfortunately, there was very little for the Top End of Australia or for Darwin and Palmerston, in my electorate, in the budget. The one mention that we did get was in relation to jobs moving out of Darwin into Queensland, in the form of the Australian Electoral Commission. Half of that office will move from Darwin to Queensland. That is a common story that we hear up in the Top End of Australia, and it leaves the Northern Territory government fighting. Given that they are down $1.17 billion in GST amendments, it is very difficult for them to be able to develop the north when there is nothing actually in the budget to help them to do that.

I just want to thank the NT government, because they are helping us to save World War II heritage in the harbour and they are also doing their best to promote the Territory interstate. It becomes incredibly difficult to do that when the tourism minister presides over a $35 million cut over four years to Tourism Australia. Some of that flows down locally to the NT.

But we are doing our best. We are going to host the National Recreational Fishing Conference in Darwin in November. I am just waiting for someone from the other side to meet with me to co-convene the Parliamentary Friends of Recreational Fishing group so that we can start to get that initiative moving. Thank you.