Matt Paterson calls out ‘massive’ federal funding disparity for Red Centre

Alice Springs mayor Matt Paterson has called out the ‘massive disparity’ in how the commonwealth funds the NT compared with the east coast, saying ‘quite frankly, it’s unjustifiable’.

Matt Paterson says ‘there’s a massive disparity there and quite frankly, it’s unjustifiable’. Picture Mark Brake

Matt Paterson says $250m in federal funding promised in the wake of last year’s crime flare-up was “just a top up”, with the commonwealth spending more on roads in Geelong than the NT.

Speaking before further unrest exploded last week, the Alice Springs mayor said while he would reserve any criticism of the speed of the funding’s rollout, the total figure was just not enough.

“We constantly see white elephants get built in remote communities, ‘It seems like a good idea, let’s quickly go and build it’ and there’s no consultation with community about what that community actually wants,” he said.

“Whereas through this process, that $250m is from the ground up, and I think if we had this process 10 or 15 years ago, we wouldn’t be here right now.

“(But) let’s be honest, the $250m’s just a top up, it’s just a one-off top up, it doesn’t get us in front of where we should be or anything like that.”

Mr Paterson said the regional Victorian city of Geelong received $24m in federal roads funding, compared with just $21m for the whole of the NT.

“The federal government issues Geelong City Council more in federal assistance grants than the whole of the NT for roads, so there’s no equity there from a federal level either, just on day-to-day grants,” he said.

“So when you’re getting those sorts of things happening, how can a remote council build their own infrastructure when they’re using that money just to keep the lights on?

“There’s a massive disparity there and quite frankly, it’s unjustifiable.”

Mr Paterson said the inequity was made worse by the fact that even if the funding was the same, money simply did not go as far in the outback as on the south coast.

“Look at the geographical area — if a dollar’s worth a dollar in Geelong, a dollar is certainly not worth a dollar in Yuendumu because you need to travel out there, the cost to get everything out there,” he said.

“It’s probably around 30c to the dollar, so you’re getting not even as much money in comparison but you’re also getting 30c to the dollar to deliver the work.”

Federal Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister Catherine King did not respond to a request for comment.