Eva Lawler says lack of homegrown workers threatens NT future
Eva Lawler has delivered a speech on the state of the Territory to a room full of business bigwigs, revealing what makes her ‘really anxious’ about the coming decades.
Northern Territory
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Chief Minister Eva Lawler says the Northern Territory must urgently build up its workforce to be able to meet the enormous pipeline of military investment slated for the nation’s north.
Delivering an address on the state of the Territory, Ms Lawler said the NT stood ready to be a reliable partner of Defence needs, but it made her “really anxious” that “we will not have the workers” to meet the opportunity.
“We are on the front line for Australia’s Defence capability – and also for its investments to boost that capability,” she told a Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) conference in Darwin on Thursday.
Over the next decade Defence’s three biggest investment priorities are focused on maritime capabilities, in which Darwin is one of the most strategically important players.
“Defence investment in the Northern Territory is big, it will be the cornerstone driving our economy for the next 10 years,” Ms Lawler said.
“It’s fair to ask if all this military focus on the north should make us anxious.
“But you know what makes me really anxious? That all this work is coming and we will not have the workers to benefit from it.”
Her government was directly addressing the issue of ensuring a homegrown workforce, she said, pointing to investments in education and training.
The Chief Minister called directly on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to show “greater leadership” when it came to international students in the NT.
Universities across the country face cuts between 60 and 95 per cent of international student enrolments as both major federal parties target expanding migration numbers.
“Cuts and caps being talked about by federal Labor and the Liberals may be in sync with the East Coast and down south, but the Territory should be carved out,” Ms Lawler said.
“The Territory must be exempt from any cuts.”
Currently more than 5600 international students in the Territory contribute $169m each year to the local economy.
A target is in place to grow that to 10,000 international students by 2030.
Shadow Business Minister Marie-Clare Boothby said “the Territory absolutely needs as many international students as possible, and if that means that we get carved out as a jurisdiction, then that’s what needs to happen”.
She accused Territory Labor of being too slow to lobby their federal counterparts on the issue.
“The Chief Minister’s either (only) chosen to do something now – maybe she realises that this is really bad for the Territory – or she’s had those conversations and failed to convince Anthony Albanese,” Ms Boothby said.
The Brennan MLA said the state of the economy was “going backwards”.
“Labor has failed to deliver the absolute basics for the Northern Territory, we have an economy that is going backwards, we have crime, which is through the roof, more brazen and escalated.”
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