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Katie Woolf spoke with Master Builders NT Chief Executive Dave Malone · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Dave Malone from Master Builders here in the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 1: Get a Dave Katie. How are you? Yeah, really well, Dave.
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  Speaker 1: Obviously the budget handed down overnight, the federal budget and
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  Speaker 1: it has been dubbed as a budget for jobs and
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  Speaker 1: keeping Aussie's employed. What was your take?
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  Speaker 2: That's a good question, you know, because I think I
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  Speaker 2: can do different takes just depending on where I stand.
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  Speaker 2: You know, in terms of Australia. There's no doubt at
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  Speaker 2: all that it's a really solid budget and you would
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  Speaker 2: give the Treasurer nine out of ten. You know. I
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  Speaker 2: think they've plumped for cash and lots of it and
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  Speaker 2: they're putting it out in the community and that's a
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  Speaker 2: very positive thing I think for you know, the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's still a good budget. There's certainly, you know,
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  Speaker 2: lots of opportunity there. I just would have liked to
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  Speaker 2: have seen more investment by governments in projects.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess this is the thing that's been really
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  Speaker 1: kind of different about this budget to what we would
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  Speaker 1: ordinarily see. You know, generally, for me sitting down watching
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  Speaker 1: the budget like the nerd that I am, I would
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  Speaker 1: be keeping a real eye out for exactly what projects
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  Speaker 1: are touted for the Northern territory. But this year it
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  Speaker 1: was so different in the sense that it's been more
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  Speaker 1: about tax breaks. It's been more about different incentives to
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  Speaker 1: try to get people to employ younger Rossies. There's been
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  Speaker 1: various other incentives and ounced, but those larger projects and
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  Speaker 1: infrastructure spending. It's really not sort of been the way
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  Speaker 1: that the budget's made up this time round.
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  Speaker 2: It's definitely not a traditional recessionary budget. They very much
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  Speaker 2: plump for cash and you can understand why they think
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  Speaker 2: a vaccine will come through. That's their plan A. They're
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  Speaker 2: putting their money on black and saying, well, if you
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  Speaker 2: put cash in now, once the vaccine comes through, the
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  Speaker 2: economy will start to really rebound. The traditional way of
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  Speaker 2: doing things is to invest to put the right infrastructure
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  Speaker 2: in place so that you support the next wave of growth.
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  Speaker 2: There's something wrong with investing in cash, by the way,
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  Speaker 2: and completely support the tax cuts and so forth. But
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  Speaker 2: they just adopted a very different models what we've seen before.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I guess it's a difficult one for us
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  Speaker 1: to kind of wrap our heads around in some ways. Dave.
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  Speaker 1: You know, when you talk about infrastructure spending in projects
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  Speaker 1: for the territory. What would you have liked to have
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  Speaker 1: seen in the budget this year?
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  Speaker 2: At one level, I don't know what the governments, you know,
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  Speaker 2: both the territory government and the federal government have been
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  Speaker 2: working on. So I assume that there's a list somewhere
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  Speaker 2: and a greed list of projects that they would have
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  Speaker 2: wanted to put together for us. You know, if you
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  Speaker 2: just think off the top of your head, you know
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  Speaker 2: there's the waterfront Stage two, you could you know, the
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  Speaker 2: projects the Council wants to do around the foreshore, building
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  Speaker 2: roads between Jabaru and Gove, you know, turning Gove into
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  Speaker 2: a regional hub, fast tracking Kakadu. They are all things
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  Speaker 2: that you would see fitting into that category of a
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  Speaker 2: pipeline of infrastructure projects, and we just didn't see those
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  Speaker 2: last night.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think that we're going to see any of
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  Speaker 1: those sort of a bit further down the track maybe?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I don't really know when. Do you think though,
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  Speaker 1: that we're going to see sort of other announcements further
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  Speaker 1: down the track, maybe even from the from the territory government.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not sure. I mean, like you, you know, all
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  Speaker 2: I've got to go on is what I see on
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  Speaker 2: TV and you know what I hear in them in
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  Speaker 2: the broader media. But there is no doubt that at
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  Speaker 2: some point or other, we have to continue to invest
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  Speaker 2: in this country and it will just be you know,
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  Speaker 2: that balance between pumping for cash or you know, going
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  Speaker 2: for projects. We think that one of the key things
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  Speaker 2: that was missed last night though, was any incentive to
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  Speaker 2: encourage private investors to bring their projects forward. You know,
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  Speaker 2: we talked yesterday about the hotel, for example, down and
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  Speaker 2: Dayln's waterfront. Yep, you know what do those people need
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  Speaker 2: to make that project happen now rather than five years time.
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  Speaker 2: We didn't see that. It's something we're going to have
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  Speaker 2: to push for, I think. And there's another budget interestingly
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  Speaker 2: enough in May, so it's not too far away.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's I mean, I think that's a really interesting
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  Speaker 1: point as well in some that you know I hadn't
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  Speaker 1: sort of thought of, but incentives to bring private investment forward.
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  Speaker 1: You know, again, it would really you would hope that
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  Speaker 1: you know that it also gives those some of those
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  Speaker 1: private investors the opportunity to employ people and keep people
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  Speaker 1: in jobs.
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  Speaker 2: That's the key, Like you can have all the intentities
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  Speaker 2: in the world to employ people, and I have no
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  Speaker 2: problems whatsoever with any of that. But if those business
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  Speaker 2: owners and managers can't see a pipeline of opportunity, they're
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  Speaker 2: not going to take people on and they're not going
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  Speaker 2: to hang on to people. So that's the circular thing
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  Speaker 2: about the economy. It all spins around. So the government's
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  Speaker 2: very much plumped on putting cash in the community's pockets.
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  Speaker 2: Pretty good. I'm pretty grateful for a tax cut as well. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: but I think if you want people to employ, they
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  Speaker 2: want to see a pipeline of work.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I reckon that's a really good point, you know,
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  Speaker 1: because like you said, especially you know, for some of
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  Speaker 1: our different different well industries such as construction, if you
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  Speaker 1: don't have that pipeline, it's very hard to really go
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  Speaker 1: out and employ someone, even if there is an incentive
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  Speaker 1: of two hundred dollars a fortnite or whatever to employ them.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, and it's a very cut throat industry. Construction in particular,
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  Speaker 2: people run very lean and they were always there on
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  Speaker 2: the side of course when it comes to taking people on.
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  Speaker 2: So you know, I have my fingers crossed that we
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  Speaker 2: all get our tax cuts, we all run off and
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  Speaker 2: spend a bit of that money in the community and
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  Speaker 2: that starts to build momentum and that encourages people to invest.
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  Speaker 2: So it's not all doom and gloom by any means.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, how can it be doom and gloom when
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  Speaker 2: the government's spending two hundred and thirteen billion dollars, which
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  Speaker 2: is I think four or five mbns and five or
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  Speaker 2: six defense budgets. It's an enormous amount of money, but
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  Speaker 2: we just would have liked to seen a bit more
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  Speaker 2: balancing at that all.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Dave Malone from Master Builders here in the Northern Territory,
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  Speaker 1: It's always good to talk, do you. Thanks so much
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  Speaker 1: for giving us that perspective that I hadn't thought of
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  Speaker 1: earlier today No Drammers Cudy, Thanks mate,