Analysis: This will be the Gunner Government's make-or-break budget

This budget is Chief Minister Michael Gunner and his Labor colleagues’ big shot at turbocharging the Territory’s post-pandemic recovery.

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THIS budget is Chief Minister Michael Gunner and his Labor colleagues’ big shot at turbocharging the Territory’s post-pandemic recovery.

But Mr Gunner faces some stiff uphill battles, not least of all is the NT’s lack of money.

The previous budget, held in November last year, projected the government would be sitting on a $10bn debt pile.

That’s only expected to grow in coming years.

Throw in population decline and the fact the Northern Territory, by most economic metrics, is in last position of any state or territory, and it’s clear Gunner has his work cut out for him.

The recent CommSec ‘State of the States’ report (which Mr Gunner dismissed as “deeply flawed”) placed the Territory last in all but two metrics.

Yet for all that, the NT has its strengths.

During this pandemic, Australians have fallen in love with travelling domestically, and there’s nowhere else in Australia which promises such untouched natural wilderness as the Northern Territory.

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Tourism will play a huge role, and hospitality operators will be keen to see how this budget will benefit them.

The construction industry will also be watching closely.

Anyone who’s been wanting to rent or buy a home in the Top End lately will know how crazy the property market has become.

Now is the chance for the Territory government to turbocharge the construction industry, ahead of an expected influx of new workers associated with the Santos project.

All eyes will be on the Chief Minister today as he unveils his budget – it has the chance to make or break the Territory’s future.

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