Business leaders call for seats at the table in planning the NT’s economic recovery

THE Territory’s peak industry bodies have joined forces and warned that the NT is staring at a catastrophe post-coronavirus and they have no confidence in the Gunner Government to deal with it.

There are fears the Darwin CBD will have many more commercial vacancies unless calls from business experts are heeded. Picture: Glenn Campbell

THE Territory’s peak industry bodies have joined forces and warned that the NT is staring at a catastrophe post-coronavirus and they have no confidence in the Gunner Government to deal with it.

The Chamber of Commerce NT, Master Builders NT, the NT Cattlemen’s Association, Minerals Council Australia NT and the Darwin Major Business Group say the real crisis facing Territorians is what is coming after the coronavirus pandemic.

They want the Territory to have an economic recovery commission to lead and shape the Territory’s economic strategy.

And they say the best way for the commission to be a success and get things done is if business has seats at the table.

The industry bodies say with an NT election looming, no budget clarity and Territorians hurtling towards a mammoth economic crisis, now more than ever they must have a say in any plans now and after the Territory election.

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As a collective, the group told the NT News they were not just directing their message at the Gunner Government; they want a guarantee from the Territory’s other political parties of bipartisan support for the economic recovery commission.

They say the loss of 21,000 jobs from the Territory – a quarter of the Territory’s private-sector workforce – is a real prospect, which is why they’ve combined to be a part of the plan to stop it.

All groups said it would be wrong and dangerous for people to believe that any bounce back was going to be a prosperous one for the Territory.

They have warned that without economic reform, reducing costs to business, lowering barriers to investment and driving government performance, the new normal will be far worse than the old normal with more businesses going to the wall after JobKeeper ends and deep debt forcing more Territorians to leave.

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The business groups say they are not looking at things through rose-coloured glasses and have to tell it how it is … whoever is in government must hear them and let them help with the plans.

A spokesman for Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the Government would turn its attention to rolling out an economic recovery plan after the battle with coronavirus was over.