Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Making Sure Every State and Territory Gets Their Fair Share of GST) Bill 2018. Prime Minister Morrison is due to visit Darwin at the end of this week, and I certainly urge him to make sure that he has a copy of the city deal in his back pocket, ready to go. In May 2017, the Northern Territory government and the federal government signed an MOU for a city deal for Darwin. That's 18 months ago. The Townsville City Deal was signed after just one month and the Launceston City Deal was signed in seven months. There was not a cent in this year's budget for the Darwin City Deal, and it shows the lack of vision, support and foresight this government has for the future of the Northern Territory and, indeed, for northern Australia.

The mantra of developing the north seems to have been abandoned by the Morrison government. The Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund is really nowhere to be seen for the number of organisations and businesses that have put forward their hopes and expectations for assistance in the north. The glossy reports, the big promises, the ideas and the time and energy that stakeholders took in putting forward their projects, knowledge and enthusiasm to see northern Australia reach its full potential seem to have fallen by the wayside.

It takes more than a quick drive in a big blue bus to gain some serious insight and understanding of what needs to be done to stimulate the entirety of our north, let alone the Northern Territory. No-one wants to go cap in hand to the Commonwealth, seeking assistance, but there is no doubt that Commonwealth assistance will be required to restore the Territory's fiscal capacity. There are options that I submit need to be examined seriously around the relativity floor and excluding from Commonwealth Grants Commission processes the funding needed to address Aboriginal disadvantage, to address infrastructure deficits and to support enabling infrastructure to develop the north. The Commonwealth could look at the possibility of increased funding to the National Partnership on Northern Territory Remote Aboriginal Investment and at using that avenue to provide capital for additional services to people living in remote communities in the Northern Territory. That would take a lot of pressure off the Northern Territory government's budget.

The Commonwealth's own projections indicate that this much-needed certainty for the Northern Territory is unlikely to be much of a cost burden. However, it would go a long way to restoring confidence in the Northern Territory, with the people of the Territory feeling the full effect of some of the biggest economic and fiscal challenges that the Territory has ever seen.