Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Commissioner for Infrastructure in the NT Louise McCormick welcomes the $2.6 billion spend for infrastructure across the Territory in this year's budget, particularly on projects they've been lobbying for

Transcript

Commissioner for Infrastructure in the NT Louise McCormick welcomes the $2.6 billion spend for infrastructure across the Territory in this year's budget, particularly on projects they've been lobbying for · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: What we do know is that it's two point six
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: billion dollars to be spent on infrastructure, some of those
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: big ticket items that have been flagged. One point five
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: billion dollars to upgrade the DAR and Port. Another four
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  Speaker 1: hundred Actually it's not to upgrade the DAR and Port.
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  Speaker 1: It's on new infrastructure for the port. There's then also
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  Speaker 1: that four hundred and forty million dollars for logistics facilities
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  Speaker 1: in three other territory centers. Now joining us on the
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  Speaker 1: line right now is Louise McCormack, the Infrastructure Commissioner for
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  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Louise.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning, how are you.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, really well, great to have you on the show.
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  Speaker 1: And Louise, two point six billion dollars on infrastructure projects
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  Speaker 1: across the territory. As the infrastructure commissioner, you must well,
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  Speaker 1: you must be thinking, gee, I'm going to be busy.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely. I'm over the moon, to be honest, because
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  Speaker 3: it's a lot of the things that we had asked
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  Speaker 3: for and have been working for for the last few
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  Speaker 3: months and talking with the Austrian government. So very pleasing
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  Speaker 3: to see it now announced.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, right, So it is stuff that you've been sort
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  Speaker 1: of lobbying for behind the scenes to make sure that
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  Speaker 1: we see this infrastructure for the territory.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely, So this is some of the economic enabling infrastructure
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  Speaker 3: we need to move to sustainable economy. So the one
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  Speaker 3: point five billion, for example, will do all the common
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  Speaker 3: user infrastructure for the Middle Arm precinct, which will generate
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  Speaker 3: thousands of jobs and not just construction but ongoing as
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  Speaker 3: well through manufacturing.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Right, So is that the port infrastructure is that separate?
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  Speaker 3: It is definitely port infrastructure, not at East Arm but
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  Speaker 3: at Middle Arm. So it's a new modular offloading facility
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  Speaker 3: as well as product jetties which will sit sort of
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  Speaker 3: alongside where IMPEX currently is.
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  Speaker 2: Right, So it's a whole new sort of facility.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, completely new precinct. And you would have seen some
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  Speaker 3: of the other announcements that went with it are the
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  Speaker 3: Hydrogen Hub. Essentially it will be starting to support the
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  Speaker 3: manufacturing of hydrogen as an energy source.
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  Speaker 1: And so what will that mean in terms of jobs
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  Speaker 1: and you know, I guess some future and future for
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  Speaker 1: energy needs for the territory.
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  Speaker 3: So there is potential that our current electrical stations power
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  Speaker 3: stations can use hydrogen. They do need rectification of some
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  Speaker 3: of the works on the infrastructure, but there's potential to
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  Speaker 3: use it locally as well as exporting it as well
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  Speaker 3: for other countries.
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  Speaker 1: Now, what about these hubs, these logistics hubs Louise, what
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  Speaker 1: are they all about?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so they're a really key part of activating the
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  Speaker 3: economy territory wide. We have lots and lots of different
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  Speaker 3: businesses across the territory and often the supply chain or
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  Speaker 3: getting to market is a difficulty. So the four hundred
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  Speaker 3: and forty million is really there to look at Alice Springs,
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  Speaker 3: Catherine and Tenant Creek as intermodal hubs, so it will
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  Speaker 3: provide them an opportunity to get their product to market
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  Speaker 3: via the hub and then on the rail out to
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  Speaker 3: port and export or to other markets nationally.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so what are the projects? I guess we've all
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  Speaker 1: sort of seen these big ticket items. Some of us
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  Speaker 1: don't know exactly where they're going to be or what
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  Speaker 1: they are. But what else should we be aware of
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  Speaker 1: this morning when you talk about this infrastructure spent.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so there's still more significant funding for roads, for example,
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  Speaker 3: So there is in that two point six billion, one
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  Speaker 3: hundred million, one hundred and ten million for the Tanami Road,
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  Speaker 3: which is getting close to ceiling all of the Tannemi
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  Speaker 3: Road with the current work, so that's really pleasing to see.
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  Speaker 3: It will provide us a second sealed connection to the
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  Speaker 3: Western Australia. There's also a two hundred million dollars there
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  Speaker 3: further for middle arm development, which is to do a
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  Speaker 3: rail spur for product corridors and the key roads that
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  Speaker 3: go into the wharf and the marine infrastructure.
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  Speaker 1: Now, we did just catch up a short time ago
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  Speaker 1: with Tom Harris from the Civil Contractors Federation of the
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  Speaker 1: Northern Territory and he said, you know that obviously one
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  Speaker 1: of the things that we are going to need to
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  Speaker 1: make sure that there is is that good planning and
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  Speaker 1: that we've got the workforce.
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  Speaker 2: To you know, to build this infrastructure.
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  Speaker 1: I would imagine that that's some of the work that
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  Speaker 1: you've again got going on behind the scenes.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely is. So we're currently working on our infrastructure plans.
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  Speaker 3: So some of this work, given the value of it
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  Speaker 3: and the magnitude, will take some time to deliver. So
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  Speaker 3: trying to identify that pipeline of work for industry is
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  Speaker 3: a really key part of what we do, so that
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  Speaker 3: they're able to plan their workforce ahead of time.
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  Speaker 1: So how soon are we expecting some of this work
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  Speaker 1: to get under way?
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  Speaker 3: So there has been already quite a lot of planning
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  Speaker 3: work happen. Middle environmental impact statement went in earlier this year,
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  Speaker 3: so we could see construction hitting the ground in twenty
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  Speaker 3: twenty four, late twenty twenty three, but there is quite
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  Speaker 3: some way for planning and design work to happen yet.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Right, So it's the planning and design work getting
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  Speaker 1: underway pretty quickly, but then the reality of it that
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  Speaker 1: we could really see this construction with well by twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty four.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, that would be my aim. It doesn't always work
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  Speaker 3: that way, but that would be what I'd be aiming for.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and Louise, have we got the workforce that we
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  Speaker 1: need or are we going to be needing to build
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  Speaker 1: upon that workforce?
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  Speaker 3: So that's one of the big challenges I think we
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  Speaker 3: have in front of us, is the workforce that we
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  Speaker 3: need to build this type of infrastructure, and that's where
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  Speaker 3: good planning comes into it, and also myself talking with
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  Speaker 3: people like Tom Master builders and in our construction industry
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  Speaker 3: about how we can work together to roll this out
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  Speaker 3: because that's probably one of our key risks in delivering.
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  Speaker 2: This What about the you know, the tendering process.
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  Speaker 1: I know I caught up with Dave Malone a bit
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  Speaker 1: earlier this morning, also spoke to Tom Harris about the
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  Speaker 1: tendering and trying our best to make sure that local
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  Speaker 1: contractors are winning this work.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, and obviously that's the Northern Territory government policy that
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  Speaker 3: local first and our bilocal policy. So it's really key
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  Speaker 3: that we do work with local industry to make sure
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  Speaker 3: that the packages that we're putting out that our local
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  Speaker 3: industry are capable of delivering them and getting good work
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  Speaker 3: out of this big announcement.
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  Speaker 1: So, Louise, I know that there will be there'll be
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  Speaker 1: contractors listening this morning. There's going to be tradees listening
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  Speaker 1: this morning. There's going to be all sorts of people
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  Speaker 1: listening this morning thinking how am I going to make
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  Speaker 1: sure that I can be part of any of these projects?
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  Speaker 1: How can they keep an eye on things and you know,
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  Speaker 1: I really make sure that they're hopefully able to get
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  Speaker 1: a slice of that work. Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: So we're looking at in infrastructure anti construction save that
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  Speaker 3: again tongue code sorry construction snapshot which obviously shows what
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  Speaker 3: works out there and what's coming. So if they keep
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  Speaker 3: an eye on things like that, a future tender opportunities
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  Speaker 3: online and there's also the Diple Procurement Plan that goes
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  Speaker 3: online which sort of tries to do a forecast within
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  Speaker 3: six to twelve months if they're wanting to look beyond that.
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  Speaker 3: Our Infrastructure Pipeline Document will come out every year and
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  Speaker 3: try and do a bit further forecasting as well, so
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  Speaker 3: that helps industry plan ahead.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Louise, I reckon you must say construction about five
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  Speaker 1: thousand times a day.
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  Speaker 2: Do you.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's got a bit.
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  Speaker 2: No, it's all good.
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  Speaker 1: Happens to me as well, and I have to speak
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  Speaker 1: for three hours straight, so so timely worried about that.
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  Speaker 2: Louise McCormack.
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  Speaker 1: Really good to speak to you this morning, and I
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  Speaker 1: think good for a lot of territories to hear from
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  Speaker 1: you this. You know, some of this planning work is
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  Speaker 1: already underway because I think for a lot of people,
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  Speaker 1: when you hear the budget is handed down, you hear,
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  Speaker 1: you know, these phenomenal amounts of money, huge amounts like
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  Speaker 1: two point six million dollars, you start to wonder whether
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  Speaker 1: it is pie in the sky stuff so to hear
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  Speaker 1: from you this morning that that planning's already underway and
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  Speaker 1: that this is work that had been advocated for, I
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  Speaker 1: think that that will please a lot of people today.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, no, that's great. I'm glad that we can help
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  Speaker 3: in that way.
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  Speaker 2: Oh good stuff.
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  Speaker 1: Louise McCormack, the Infrastructure Commissioner for the Northern Territory. Always
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  Speaker 1: good to catch up with you. Thanks so much for
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  Speaker 1: your time.