Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / The Chamber of Commerce's Chief Policy Officer Steve Goodall answers whether the forecasted strength in the economy from this year's budget is a reality considering how much businesses are struggling

Transcript

The Chamber of Commerce's Chief Policy Officer Steve Goodall answers whether the forecasted strength in the economy from this year's budget is a reality considering how much businesses are struggling · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We know the budget was handed down yesterday and joining
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: me on the line to talk a little bit more
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: about it from a business perspective. It is the Chief
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Policy Officer for the Northern Territories Chamber of Commerce, Stephen
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: good Or. Good morning to you.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Hi Katie, good morning. How are you very well?
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Stephen? What was your reaction to the budget yesterday?
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Well, I think there were some pleasant surprises in the
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: budget delivery yesterday and I think, you know, without rattling
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: off too many of the positives that came out of it,
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: that the general impression of the budget was in amongst
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: all of the habit tumultuous things that happened yesterday, was
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: that the budget was was quite a quite a surprise.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: We know that, you know, some businesses have been doing
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: it a bit tough, certainly throughout the COVID pandemic. But
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: has this year's budget been beneficial for our territory businesses?
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah? I think you know, there's a there's an element
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: that steps in before that and the general health of
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: the Mordern Territory government underpins very much our commercial sector,
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: as then does our commercial sector underpin you know the
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: performance of the overall budget for the government on an
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: annual basis. Now, the last couple of years have seen
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: exponential expenditure against health concerns and the pandemic, certainly the
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: related additional cost that went against our police services for
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: border control and other things. And you know, the fundamental
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: belief I guess as we've come out of this was
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: that some of these impacts were going to be felt
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  Speaker 2: still against this budget. But I think the resilience of
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: funding that's come in through GST revenue growth because of
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: national performance and territory performance in any economics are underpinning that.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: Though there are a lot of struggles still, particularly in
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: that workforce space that you spend considerable time speak about
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: on air with many many different entities that you know,
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  Speaker 2: there are some positives that come out of this and
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  Speaker 2: some real commitments I think in some key areas, particularly
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: in housing and the development of additional infrastructure projects and investments.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: I think there are some very strong positives as well.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: We are obviously hearing right now and you touched on
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: this just a moment ago, that some industries are really
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: struggling to fill those jobs, so struggling with workforce. Can
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: that economic growth still happen and still be as strong
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: as predicted. If businesses are struggling to find people to
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  Speaker 1: fill jobs.
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  Speaker 2: As I spoke to you just a couple of weeks
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: back on on the workforce issues and challenges, and you know,
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: there's a there's a whole series of elements that come together.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: You know, you have the Pacific program, you have skilled migration.
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  Speaker 2: We have a tremendous amount of focus both through the
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: Department of Education and through Workforce and T on the
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: on the development of skilling. GT and T and many
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: others are doing fantastic job. And you know, we've got
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: record numbers of apprentices in the system. One of the
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  Speaker 2: key things that is happening is that we've we've got
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  Speaker 2: a you know, almost like a perfect storm. We've got
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: a number of years of elements of of that feeder
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: have not been operational because of closed borders. We have
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: had substantial pushback because of the lack of availability of accommodation,
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  Speaker 2: and one of the other pieces that has been having
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: substantial impact. Of course, there has been the very widespread
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: concerns of public safety. These are affecting our abilities to
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: be an attractive destination for employment, migration to families, and
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: the rest of it. So that it is a perfect storm.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: I think there are elements in the budget that certainly
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: get at some of these key pieces. And Nicole, our
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: chief operating officer, and the team have been doing an
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: excellent job in this living in the territories initiatives and
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: really getting some focus with the public and business on
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: public safety.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: Well yeah, well that is certainly an issue, as is
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: those staff shortages. Steven, we are going to have to
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: leave it there. We're pretty pressed for time this morning.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for having a chat with us all.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: Rkatie, thanks very much for listeners. Thank you, thank you.