Chief Minister Michael Gunner slams State of the States report as ‘garbage’
The opposition has criticised the government’s economic management, despite Chief Minister Michael Gunner claiming he throws it in the bin or shreds it every quarter.
Northern Territory
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THE government has tossed aside a major quarterly report, despite it showing some positive signs for the Territory’s economic trajectory.
The CLP has seized on CommSec’s latest State of the States report, arguing it's the 11th straight quarter ranking the NT last in the nation for overall economic performance.
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When asked about the report on Monday, Chief Minister Michael Gunner dismissed the CommSec report as a “garbage report that I either keep in the bin or shred”.
“It’s not worth the paper it’s written on,” Mr Gunner said
“It compares us to when we’re at our highest under Inpex and is not a fair comparison by jurisdiction.”
Mr Gunner argued the Territory had been strongly performing in various areas in recent years, including retail spending, domestic tourism and construction dwellings.
“Look through all the real time stats, we’re tracking in the right direction,” he said.
The NT News noted on Monday that the State of the States report had shown the Northern Territory to have improved the most of any Australian state or territory over the past 12 months.
Despite this, it still ranked last in the nation in comparison to its own average performance over the past 12 months.
Opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro said the results were showed the government had poorly managed the economy.
“The Gunner Government’s shameful economic mismanagement means the NT is the worst performing economy for the eleventh consecutive quarter,” Ms Finocchiaro said.
“We’re ranked dead last in six of the eight economic indicators including retail spending, construction work and housing finance.
“Slogans like “come back capital” mean nothing when the results speak for themselves.
Ms Finocchiaro also lashed out at high-paying government positions being opened up by the government, claiming they had done little to reverse the Territory’s economic status.
“Token ‘commissioners’ and catch phrases won’t keep Territorians in jobs or grow our economy.
“The only way to fix our economy, pay back our debt and keep Territorians in jobs is to unleash our economy from the shackles of the Gunner Government – whose only track record is stifling growth.”
The CommSec report identified construction, retail and dwelling starts as strong points for the NT in this quarter compared to last year.
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