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Katie Woolf spoke with Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: In the studio right now, as she does every Wednesday morning.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: It is the opposition leader Leofan Kiro. Good morning, Good.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Morning Katie, and good morning to your listeners.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Now, Lea, obviously the big news this morning is the
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: federal budget being handed down. What was your reaction overnight?
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: I was thrilled to see the two hundred and twenty
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: two million dollar GST win for that we got. I
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: think that really truly reflects the fact that, you know,
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Senator Sam McMahon and my opposition team have been working
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: closely with our colleagues in canbrid to ensure that we're
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: getting as big as slices of the pie as possible.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Some of the funding around the Beterloo, and of course
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: the one hundred and ninety million dollars for roads upgrades
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: is really critical and sensible funding because it unlocks economic opportunity,
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: which means we can leverage that money and that investment
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: and create more money and more investment in the territory.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Now, obviously, this GStar given it's always an interesting one,
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: or it's always sort of there's a bit of confusion,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: I think you would say, especially for the everyday punter,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: when it comes to the GST and the impact that
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: it has now it will well. The Federal opposition had
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: said that the budget will rack up a trillion dollars
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: of debt, but the Northern Territory is still copying a
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: one hundred million dollar cut to our GST payments. Take
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  Speaker 1: a listen though to what Materis Corman had to say
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  Speaker 1: a little bit earlier on the show.
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  Speaker 3: Let me be very explicit. The Northern Territory in twenty
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  Speaker 3: twenty one is expected to receive two point seven billion
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: dollars in GST payments and that is an increase, an
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  Speaker 3: increase of two on twenty one point six million dollars
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  Speaker 3: compared to twenty nineteen twenty Leah.
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  Speaker 1: There's always a bit of confusion around the GST and
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  Speaker 1: I know that in previous years it's sort of been
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  Speaker 1: something that the Territory Treasurer has spoken about having a
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: massive impact on the territory's budget. What is what's your
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  Speaker 1: understanding of the GST slice for the territory this time round.
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  Speaker 2: So we've got a clear increase this budget of two
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  Speaker 2: hundred and twenty two million dollars. That is an enormous
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: amount of money that now the terror Ritary government has
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: to spend really wisely, and it'll be interesting to see
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: whether they use that to pay down debt, whether it
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: goes into roads or additional infrastructure, whether it goes into
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  Speaker 2: supporting projects and unlocking additional investment. But I don't know
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  Speaker 2: what to document the federal labor oppositioner looking at. But
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: one thing's for sure. We know labor, the Labor Party
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: doesn't understand the books. It can't manage money, and so
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: claiming some sort of fictitious one hundred million dollar gest
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  Speaker 2: cut is just scare mongering. What we have is a
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  Speaker 2: very clear investment from the federal government which is now
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: to the territory government to spend wisely.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Leah, a number of the announcements announced overnight, obviously
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: we're all about sort of tax cuts and incentives to
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  Speaker 1: try and get Aussie's in jobs and spending, also about
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: small business keeping them moving. Are you confident that the
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: measures that were announced overnight will really give business the
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: confidence that they require to invest and keep people employed.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: I think so. And it's you know, an amazing country
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  Speaker 2: we live in where our federal government has been able
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  Speaker 2: to provide job keeper, job seeker and all of these
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: additional supports. Of course, we saw the announcement around paying
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: half the wages of apprentices. All of these schemes come
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: at a cost, but they're so important, they're so timely,
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  Speaker 2: and sure some of them haven't been perfect, but we
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  Speaker 2: live in an imperfect world and this is an ever
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: changing environment. But certainly I think all of those measures
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: will help support people to stay in business and people
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: to stay connected to their employment, which is critical. I'm
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: really also excited, Katie about the investment in the Beterloo.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Of course, is well over one hundred million dollars there
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  Speaker 2: that's been allocated to ensuring that we understand the Beterloo well,
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  Speaker 2: that we unlock the opportunity and investment that that has,
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  Speaker 2: which again, as I said at the start, we can
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  Speaker 2: leverage the money the federal government are putting into that
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  Speaker 2: to create more money and more jobs going forward, and
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  Speaker 2: that's what we need to be doing.
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  Speaker 1: Seemingly no confirmation though at this point in time, well,
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: no investment at this point in time into say, you know,
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  Speaker 1: a pipeline that runs to the Southern States from the Bedloo.
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  Speaker 1: Is that something that we really need to try to
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  Speaker 1: be pushing for.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, what we need to do is get that gas
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  Speaker 2: out of the ground. You know, we need to ensure
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  Speaker 2: that we're moving ahead with the regulatory framework, which the
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  Speaker 2: Gunner government are still slowly working through. We urge them
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  Speaker 2: to do that quickly because this is a big opportunity.
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  Speaker 2: The federal government have sent a very clear message that
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  Speaker 2: this is going to be a gas led recovery and
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  Speaker 2: that we have a role to play in firing up
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  Speaker 2: the rest of the nation. Now, that is all about timing,
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  Speaker 2: and that is all about acting swiftly, and so it's
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  Speaker 2: incumbent upon the Gunner government to use this opportunity to
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  Speaker 2: secure the territory's position in getting that gas out of
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  Speaker 2: the ground. And once we've proved all of that asset up,
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  Speaker 2: we will then be able to put in big pictures
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  Speaker 2: for pipelines and other investment. But of course, the proof
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  Speaker 2: in itself will be in the pudding. I mean, once
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  Speaker 2: that gas is proved up and the companies are able
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: to get to that extraction phase, private sector investment will
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  Speaker 2: flow and you will have entities wanting to build pipe
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: lines because the economics will stuck up naturally.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: Leah, what do you think about this job maker hiring credit.
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  Speaker 1: Obviously it's going to be a good thing for young
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  Speaker 1: people aged between sixteen and thirty five. But do you
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  Speaker 1: think it's going to mean that some employers are a
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  Speaker 1: bit ageous and sort of go for that younger employee
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  Speaker 1: rather than, you know, rather than employing someone who's a
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  Speaker 1: little bit older.
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  Speaker 2: Look, no, I don't think so. I think it's really
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  Speaker 2: important and let's not forget we've got to look at
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  Speaker 2: all these measures holistically, so there's a wide range of
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: different supports that don't just target one group or one
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  Speaker 2: demographic in our society. We know that some of our
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  Speaker 2: employment numbers around young people and engagement in the workforce
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: are low, and I imagine that this initiative is designed
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: to specifically target that. But of course there are a
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: wide range of businesses which require different levels of skill,
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  Speaker 2: different you know, numbers and volumes of staff as well.
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  Speaker 2: So this is just one in a wide range of
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: strategies which are designed to keep people in jobs and
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: you know, continue to improve their skills going forward.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: Leah, is there enough in this federal budget for the
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  Speaker 1: Northern territory when you talk about projects and infrastructure, Well, this.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: Is very interesting and of course we've seen the huge
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: amount of money going into beat Aloo, the huge amount
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  Speaker 2: of JSTRE that really is such a windfall. Of course,
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: even in health we picked up tens of millions of
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: dollars additional to the National Critical Care Center and rd H.
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  Speaker 2: But my question really is what did the Gunner government
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: do in preparation for this federal budget. Did they deliver
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: the federal government with a suite of shovel ready projects
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: and I mean literally shovel ready, not shovel ready in
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: the Gunner government definition, which means sometime two or three
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: years away. Did they deliver the federal government those shovel
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: ready projects? And if they did, then we need to
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: see whether or not they were invested in. But I
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: suspect that our territory government was not ready for the
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: federal budget. But in any irrespective of our government's ability
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: to get its act together, the federal government have absolutely
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: delivered for the territory, delivered for regions. You know that
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: one hundred and ninety million dollars in roads funding is
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: so significant. It unlocks social opportunities, it unlocks tourism, and
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: unlocks being able to get our product to market. And
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  Speaker 2: really the Barkley cleaned up a lot in this federal budget.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: So I really thank our federal colleagues and Santaemic Mahmon.
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  Speaker 2: We've all been working really hard to secure the best
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  Speaker 2: deal for the territory and we certainly hope that the
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  Speaker 2: Gunner government at least attempted to put our best foot forward.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: Well, look, we are going to be catching up with
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  Speaker 1: the Minister for Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics Evil Ala in
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  Speaker 1: a few minutes time and we will ask her whether
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: there were shovel ready projects put forward and certainly hear
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  Speaker 1: her response. Now another thing that I do want to
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: to talk to you about, speaking of shovel ready, Yesterday
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: we caught up with the CEO of Lambridge, Mike Hues,
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: and he did confirm that the company is realistically now
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  Speaker 1: looking into whether that project down at the waterfront, the
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  Speaker 1: luxury hotel, does indeed move ahead. You know, it's going
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: to be a real wait and see kind of scenari
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: But he said if he was a betting man and
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  Speaker 1: conditions don't change, that realistically it's not going to happen.
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  Speaker 1: What's your reaction to that.
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's obviously really disappointing news, but again it comes
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: down to timing. Had the Gunner government have gotten onto
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: this project and progressed it quicker, it would already be
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: out of the ground. And this is the reality we've
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: seen this government stall for. We're coming onto five years now,
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  Speaker 2: and timing is everything. It makes the difference between when
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: you can invest capital or not. I mean, if we
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: had got that investment or beat Aloo and all of
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  Speaker 2: these things out of the ground before COVID, then that
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  Speaker 2: investment would already be sitting here, the jobs would have happened,
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  Speaker 2: and we'd already have the opportunities that flow from it.
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  Speaker 2: So you know, the government cannot sit around and just
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: expect the private sector to be ever ready with money
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: to spend. You know that things are ever changing, and
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: that's why when you have an opportunity in the territory,
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  Speaker 2: you have to throw everything at it to deliver on it.
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  Speaker 2: And that's why we've been really clear in our policies
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  Speaker 2: around cutting approvals time frames by fifth and having a
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: territory coordinator to facilitate exactly these types of major projects.
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: Lea, we are going to have to get ready to
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: wrap up. But I do want to ask you quickly
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: about WEELL about a topic that we've spoken about on
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: a few different occasions. We did catch up with Josh
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: Burgoyne as well late last week about some of the
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: issues in Alice Springs around crime. Now, I know that
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: COP opposition representatives in Central Australia of Pendon open letter
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: to the Chief Minister imploring him to address the worsening
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: crime in Alice Springs across the region. What exactly do
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  Speaker 1: you think the government needs to be doing in Alice
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  Speaker 1: Springs right now?
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  Speaker 2: Well, the Chief Minister was down there a week or
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: so ago and has delivered nothing since.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: He has met up with the police and he has
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: obviously held talks with them.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: Well he's met with the police. I don't think he's
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: met with the community. I was certainly down there after
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: him and people said he made one walk through them
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  Speaker 2: all and that was about it. We've heard nothing. I mean,
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: in the lead up to the election, the Gunner government
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: put out a big press release with ten or fift
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: fifteen things they were going to do to tackle crime,
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: and where you know, six weeks past the election and
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: we've heard nothing about when they're going to be implemented.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: Does the Chief Minister have a plan for the territory
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: and specifically a plan for Alice Springs. Who are suffering
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: at the moment. They really are. Businesses are being broken
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: into every single day. Tourism are really really concerned about
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: this issue. It's really affecting their ability to attract people
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: to Alice Springs. Of course, locals and victims are concerned,
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: and all we're asking is that the Chief Minister gives
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: some hope to the people of Alice Springs that he
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: has a plan to deal with crime. And certainly what
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: we're hearing is absolutely nothing.
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: Well, Leah Fanokiro, opposition leader, we are going to have
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: to leave it there. Always appreciate your time. We'll catch
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: up with you again hopefully Friday.
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: Yes, thank you everyone to take care.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: You are listening to Mix one OW four point nine's
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  Speaker 1: three sixty