CommSec report reveals NT population growth lowest in the country

A new economic update shows the Territory economy is struggling to thrive. But it’s not the same story in all sectors.

The Northern Territory economy has once again scraped the bottom of the nation’s economic barrel according to CommSec’s latest State of the States report.

And troublingly for the NT government, which is banking on a number of major projects to help shore up the Territory’s population base to achieve a $40bn economy by 2030, the NT reported Australia’s lowest population growth.

The Territory economy was ranked worst performing of the eight jurisdictional economies assessed by CommSec.

In the October 2022 report released on Monday, Tasmania returned to top spot with the nation’s best performing economy followed by Queensland, the ACT, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and the NT.

Despite the low overall ranking, the Territory’s economy performed strongly in some areas.

The NT was second with 33.9 per cent behind WA in economic growth, recorded the largest increase in construction work and was third-highest nationally in dwelling starts.

However, overall it was another dire result in the NT’s CommSec assessments, which mostly compare today’s economy with 10 years ago – the peak of the Inpex construction boom.

The Territory has the country’s lowest retail spending levels, lowest equipment investment, lowest dwelling starts and at 0.34 per cent the nation’s lowest population growth.

Queensland recorded the nation’s largest population surge with a 1.81 per cent increase.

The Territory recorded the nation’s largest decline in dwelling starts.

NT MasterBuilders chief executive Ben Carter said the CommSec report had reinforced the link between a strong Territory economy and a strong construction industry.

The Territory economy recorded the fastest nominal growth, up nearly 30 per cent over the year while the construction sector performed strongest with annual growth climbing 20.2 per cent from 2021.

While Mr Carter expects this trend to continue and for the Territory economy to continue to curve upwards, fundamental issues like a lack of skilled workers and housing needed to be addressed.

He said economic pressures interstate meant the Territory would need to look overseas for workers.

“Over the next 12 months we should be seeing start of a cycle and we should be surging up as things quieten down south,” Mr Carter said.

“I expect the economic curve to surge up but the question is will we have access to labour to sustain that?

“Housing, labour and skills are going to be the big ones. Do we have the pieces in place to support economic growth like housing and people?”

Depending on the skills required, Mr Carter said Australia should look overseas for workers and look to encourage them to migrate with families and to settle in the NT.

Master Builders NT executive director Ben Carter

“In days gone by we would draw people here from WA and regional Victoria but this time we may have to look overseas and the NT is going to have to be more competitive against, say, the WA government who are already taking electricians from us and other places.

“The NT will have to be entrepreneurial and open minded.

“If we go to the Philippines we’ll need to get families as well and get them to stay here.

That will develop a situation where that solves a whole lot of other problems as well.

“We need the federal government to be focusing on temporary skills replacement and we need to focus on family visas.”

Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro said the latest data was the 16th consecutive CommSec State of the States report where the Territory had been ranked last.

Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro says crime is contributing to the NT’s poor showing in CommSec’s State of the States. Picture: Floss Adams.

“It’s not only an embarrassment, it’s a devastating blow to Territorians who know we can be so much more than that,” Ms Finocchiaro said.

She said crime was playing a major role in the mindset of NT business operators.

“Businesses are on their knees and at crisis point in making big decisions around whether or not they can afford to continue to run their business and stay in the Territory.”

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles acknowledged the report’s poor population forecast.

“We see growth in some areas but we’re seeing challenges still around population attraction and equipment purchase, Ms Fyles said.