Business investment in the Northern Territory crashes by 45.6 per cent

BUSINESS investment in the Northern Territory has crashed by 45.6 per cent, latest Government Treasury figures reveal

Business investment in the Territory has crashed by 45.6 per cent, latest Government Treasury figures reveal

BUSINESS investment in the Territory has crashed by 45.6 per cent, latest Government Treasury figures reveal.

Year-on-year data released for 2018 shows Territory State Final Demand fell by 12.5 per cent to $26.9 billion with private sector investment falling by a staggering 41.8 per cent to $5.9 billion.

The shocking figures have sparked a call for the NT Government to act with urgency on the matters that have come out of the recent business Economic Recovery Summit.

“Private sector investment has just fallen off a cliff,” the Chamber of Commerce NT deputy chief executive Brian O’Gallagher said.

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“This is very real ... the Treasury evidence of a 41 per cent collapse of private sector investment is proof of that.

“If we ever needed independent advice as to the state of the Northern Territory economy, this is it. It is really quite scary.

“We are the only jurisdiction over 10 years that has seen negative growth in property values.

“The only fix is with population growth and demand.

“We have an oversupply of everything and that is why investment is collapsing.

“There is an oversupply of residential, commercial, industrial land.

“The only way we are going to get the economy moving is to open up the 98 per cent of land that is not freehold in Darwin and Palmerston and take the foot off the red and green tape blockages.

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“Then we can get out and promote the Territory where it has the competitive advantage.

“That happens to be in minerals and resources and gas.

“Yes, make sure we have regulations in place that are best practice, but at the same time does not over-regulate it.

“With Budget Cabinet on at the moment you would expect government knows that this is a really big, big problem that we are in at the moment.

“A key focus at the summit was red tape, and environmental reforms ... we need to create the environment for the private sector to create jobs.”

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End of year quarterly results show Territory State Final Demand (SFD) fell by 2.5 per cent to $6.3 billion in the December quarter 2018 – the largest fall in SFD of all jurisdictions.

The next largest was WA with 0.3 per cent.