Housing construction, wages growth highest in NT: CommSec State of the States report

A major report released on Tuesday has ranked the Northern Territory last in six of eight economic indicators, but there’s some green shoots.

THE Northern Territory has seen the best growth in construction, new dwelling commencements and wages growth of any state or territory, a major new report has found.

Construction work jumped 33.2 per cent and dwelling commencements increased by 110.9 per cent in the year to March, according to the latest CommSec State of the States report.

Territorians’ pay packets increased by 1.6 per cent over the same period, tying with Queensland as the best in the country.

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But it wasn’t all good news, with the Territory ranked last overall, and in six out of eight economic indicators, out of all of Australia’s jurisdictions.

The Territory ranked last in retail spending growth, unemployment growth, construction work, population growth, housing finance and dwelling starts, when compared to its average performance over the past decade.

Housing was performing well, according to the State of the States report. Photograph: Che Chorley

Opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro said the reports were a wake-up call and directed blame at the government.

“This is the ninth consecutive quarter the Northern Territory has been labelled the nations worst performing economy by CommSec,” Ms Finocchiaro said.

“The Chief Minister needs to show some fiscal restraint and to stop relying on handouts from Canberra,” she said.

Opposition Leader, Lia Finocchiaro said the report was the result of government mismanagement. Picture Glenn Campbell

Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the report compared the NT’s current economy against its performance during the Inpex boom. Photograph: Che Chorley

Ms Finocchiaro said the $8.4bn debt was hurting the economy.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner however slammed the report as “deeply flawed,” complaining it compared the current economy against the 10-year average fuelled by the Inpex boom.

“The Territory is now outpacing national economic growth across a range of indicators,” Mr Gunner said.

He said private sector investment had increased nearly 10 per cent, while household consumption was increasing by 4.2 per cent.

“Santos have just announced the $5bn Santos backfill project and confidence in the Territory as a place to do business is high.”

Mr Gunner said population growth and building approvals were performing “strongly” and would provide a “pipeline of construction and jobs”.

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