Jacinta Price says NT ‘lost out the most’ in 2025 federal budget as Mayor waits for ‘our share of the pie’
The Territory has ‘arguably lost out the most’ in this year’s federal budget, according to one senator, while one mayor is waiting to ‘understand our share of the pie’.
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Update, March 26: Territorians have nothing “to celebrate over” in this year’s federal budget, according to one NT Senator, who says the budget is an “absolute indictment” on the NT’s elected representatives who sit in Canberra.
NT Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said “Territorians arguably lost out the most” with the budget, which was handed down Tuesday night.
“The only thing that the federal government has done for Territorians is to announce money that won’t even touch the sides, for road upgrades. There is simply nothing else that Territorians have cause to celebrate over,” she said.
“As a region which has so much potential, and now has the leadership of a government that is committed to its economic prosperity and success, this budget was the perfect opportunity for the federal government to work hand-in-hand with the Territory to make that happen.
“To the contrary, this federal budget is an absolute indictment on the Northern Territory’s federal representatives in Canberra.”
Alice Springs Town Council Mayor Matt Paterson welcomed a $144 million increase towards federal assistance grants for council Australia-wide.
“The increase to the federal assistance grants, which I think is something that, you know, we welcome as a council. We’ll wait and see how that’s going to be sliced and diced … to understand our share of the pie,” he said.
Mr Paterson also welcomed the free TAFE announcements and called the $10,000 grants for tradies to take an apprentice “beneficial”.
“We’ve got to offer whatever incentive we can to young men and women who want to become apprentices,” he said.
“I hope that these incentives do get agreed to by the opposition and they seamlessly roll out and we see more tradies in Alice Springs.”
PM told to fund bridge upgrade ‘if he wants his steak’ year-round
Initial, March 25: A Northern Territory mayor is reminding the Prime Minister that if he wants “to eat his steak 12 months around” then one community needs an important bridge built, as leaders share their hopes for the 2025 federal budget.
Barkly Regional Council Mayor Sid Vashist has just returned from a trip to Canberra and said he was banking on $37 million in funding across five projects for the Barkly.
Mr Vashist is seeking $5m to build a culvert bridge in Alpurrurulam so the community can cross the Georgina River – and used Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s appetite for steak to show the importance of the project.
“A decent wet means the community gets cut off for about three months because of not being able to cross the Georgina River,” he said.
“Having a culvert bridge on the Georgina will still restrict the community for about a month until the roads get dried up.”
In January, Mr Albanese visited Lake Nash cattle station – located next to Alpurrurulam – where he reportedly “loved the steak,” according to Mr Vashist.
The 270,000 hectare station is owned by Georgina Pastoral Company and runs an average 75,000 cattle per year, which is then sold domestically.
“If the prime minister wants to enjoy his steak 12 months around, well, we need that culvert bridge,” Mr Vashist said.
Other projects he was hopeful of getting funding for included $5.1m to relocate Elliot Art Centre into the township, $15m for pool upgrades in Tennant Creek, $5m to upgrade Purkiss Reserve in Tennant Creek, and $6.3m to replace the council’s ageing machinery fleet.
“All these projects are very important, but we have to have a fair representation. We are the second largest local government area and we are a region that’s been forgotten for a long time,” he said.
Alice Springs Town Council Mayor Matt Paterson was hopeful the budget would deliver a “fairer share of the pie” when it came to how federal assistance grants were distributed among councils.
“So if the pie is not going to grow, then the government needs to change the formula in which federal assistance grants are distributed through 560 councils,” he said.
“Now I’m not saying that we need it all, as a Territory there are some councils that certainly need more.
“That’s what I want … a fairer and more equitable way to distribute funds across the country.”
Mr Paterson said council had a “long wish list” of projects it would like to see funded.
Tourism Central Australia chief executive Danial Rochford was hoping for cost of living relief in the budget “which will assist households to be able to spend more”.
“Often tourism is an area that will benefit from that,” he said.
“We’ve certainly had a long held belief that Central Australia and tourism needs a recovery package. We don’t feel that that will be something that will be announced tonight, but we certainly have been calling for that from both the Labor and Liberal parties.”
Mr Rochford hoped to see more infrastructure announcements, and was “confident” there would be money for sealing the Mereenie Loop – something the tourism body has long campaigned for.
“Our message to both federal political parties is that after 40 years of talking, let’s seal the Mereenie Loop road,” he said.
“It was announced many years ago, so it should be in the budget and we’ll be very keen to make sure that it’s still inside the budget. We’re pretty confident that it is.”
Australian Nurses and Midwifery Federation NT branch secretary Cath Hatcher said she wanted to see funding allocated towards upgrading “substandard” accommodation for remote community nurses and midwives.
She also wanted to see more housing options and upgrades to existing houses funded.
Other wishes included “ongoing improvement for nurse practitioner access” to the Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme alongside “sustainable, permanent funding for the Nursing Midwifery Health Program Australia”.
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Originally published as Jacinta Price says NT ‘lost out the most’ in 2025 federal budget as Mayor waits for ‘our share of the pie’
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