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

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hello, Katie Wolf and three point sixty online at Mix
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  Speaker 1: one O four nine dot com. So the construction sector
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  Speaker 1: and joining us live on the line, Master Builders NT
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  Speaker 1: CEO Dave Malone, Good morning.
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  Speaker 2: Dave, Good morning, Katie.
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  Speaker 1: How are you very well now? Dave? What was your
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  Speaker 1: reaction to the budget yesterday when it was handed down?
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  Speaker 2: Well, Katie, you know, our first reaction was that if
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  Speaker 2: you were sitting back and working out a budget for
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  Speaker 2: the territory, this is pretty much where you'd probably land.
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  Speaker 2: There will always be you know, issues on the margin
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  Speaker 2: where people might expect something different. But you know, we're
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  Speaker 2: coming out of a COVID pandemic. You know, the government
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  Speaker 2: has a lot of different responsibilities on its play. It
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  Speaker 2: is spent really big, really big, to be honest, and
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  Speaker 2: so this is pretty much what you would expect.
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  Speaker 1: And what were the positives from your perspective for your industry.
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  Speaker 2: Well, the strongest thing the sarrus we're concerned, Katie, was
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  Speaker 2: the continuation of investment in the territory. You know, the
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  Speaker 2: strong Structure program that provides long term economic support to
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  Speaker 2: the entire economy but also creates jobs right now. So
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  Speaker 2: that investment was important. I think the other thing that
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  Speaker 2: stood out and that it hasn't really had much coverage
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  Speaker 2: so far, was the commitment by the government to do
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  Speaker 2: a review of land supply, a route and branch review,
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  Speaker 2: to see how we can make sure that we get
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  Speaker 2: more title land into the market as first time buyers
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  Speaker 2: and the buyers look to invest in the territory.
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  Speaker 1: And I suppose I know that there were some people
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  Speaker 1: who had heard that announcement who thought, oh goodness, me,
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  Speaker 1: is this going to see a decrease in the value
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  Speaker 1: of my home and my land. But this is something
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  Speaker 1: that is going to happen over an extended period of time,
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  Speaker 1: isn't it.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely? And what we're looking to do is to make
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  Speaker 2: sure that we can turn land off at a speed
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  Speaker 2: that reflects the current market. I know people always get
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  Speaker 2: worried about oversupply, but if you were to look around
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  Speaker 2: right now and try and block a land by a
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  Speaker 2: block of land, you'll struggle. There's no surprise in that
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  Speaker 2: had a good run in terms of residential building, but
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  Speaker 2: you do need the supply to match the demand in
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  Speaker 2: the market, or you get spikes and prices and then collapses.
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  Speaker 2: So the review that mister Gout's going to do, I
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  Speaker 2: think is pretty crucial for the territory.
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  Speaker 1: And were there any areas where you felt there's the
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  Speaker 1: budget maybe fell short day, But I think this.
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  Speaker 2: Year, Katie, you know, this is a year for getting
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  Speaker 2: stuff done, and the government can allocate funds, but we
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  Speaker 2: desperately need to start turning some of our strategies and
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  Speaker 2: initiatives into real things on the ground. There's lots of
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  Speaker 2: different projects that have been floating around for many years,
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  Speaker 2: and you and I have spoken about those many times before.
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  Speaker 2: It's not so much about the budget itself. I think
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  Speaker 2: is the budget's the way of spending money. It's really
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  Speaker 2: making that money work for us. And you know, if
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  Speaker 2: I pick an example the you know, the we're coming
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  Speaker 2: up to two years since the government committed to the
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  Speaker 2: ship lift for example, yep, and we yet to get
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  Speaker 2: a ship lift. Now I understand the complexity of that,
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  Speaker 2: but I just used as an example of you know,
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  Speaker 2: we need to get stuff done.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree with you, and it's something like you said,
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  Speaker 1: you and I have spoken about that and some of
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  Speaker 1: those delays, and I guess that in action over the years.
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  Speaker 1: I've spoken to Drew Wagner as well, from the Minerals
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  Speaker 1: counsel about it. No one's saying that we need to
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  Speaker 1: sort of, you know, not go through those approvals processes
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: or not do things in the correct and right way.
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  Speaker 1: But you know, if we don't get things moving, then
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  Speaker 1: we're going to be in the same position a year
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  Speaker 1: down the track and further.
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  Speaker 2: Really absolutely, and you know, I've sat inside projects before
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  Speaker 2: and I know just how difficult they are to get
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  Speaker 2: right across the line with them. But you know, if
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  Speaker 2: we're coming out of a pandemic, if we're investing big,
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  Speaker 2: if we're spending more money than we've got, which is
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  Speaker 2: what a deficit is, then you know, like this is
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  Speaker 2: a year to get stuff done. And I know the
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  Speaker 2: Chief Minister pretty much expressed those views yesterday and that's
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  Speaker 2: probably the truth of the budget. It's not so much
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  Speaker 2: the spending patterns, it's what comes out the other end.
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  Speaker 1: So Dave all in all, would you say that it
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  Speaker 1: was would you get the budget a tick of approval?
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely? You know, I don't have any problems with doing
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  Speaker 2: that at all. I mean, it landed where we pretty
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  Speaker 2: much thought it would, as we've just discussed, though, the
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  Speaker 2: real challenge is not spending, it's getting an outcome.
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  Speaker 1: Well Master Builders nt CEO Dave Malone good to speak
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  Speaker 1: with you this morning.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Thanks Katie,