NT Budget promises to rein in spending and boost jobs

Budget 2020 continues to spend on our frontline response to COVID-19.

The Budget also helps small business as the Territory's most important job-creators, and starts implementing the initial recommendations of the Territory Economic Reconstruction Commission.

Budget 2020 continues to protect the Territory by providing $120 million in funding to keep winning the fight against the coronavirus. This includes:

• $63 million to operate and maintain our gold-standard quarantine facilities, as well as infrastructure upgrades to border checkpoints and the Emergency Operations Centre
• $26 million for the frontline health response such as screening and testing, support at quarantine facilities, and operational costs like personal protective equipment
• $10.5 million for police to maintain their presence on our borders and in our communities - in addition to the $20 million previously committed for this financial year, to boost recruits.

Budget 2020 kick-starts our economic recovery with the Territory's Jobs First Plan - to protect existing jobs, create new jobs, and prepare Territorians for the jobs of the future. Initiatives include:

• The JobMaker Booster - to supplement and extend the Commonwealth's JobMaker hiring credit ($7.8 million)
• The Roadhouse to Recovery Fund - to help upgrade infrastructure and amenities at roadhouses and wayside inns ($4 million)
• The Territory Small Business Saver Grant - to help businesses reduce their ongoing costs ($5 million)
• The Territory Small Business Customer Experience Grant - to help small businesses looking to enhance their customer experience ($5 million)
• The Territory Small Business Pivot Grant - to help businesses adapt to the new economic environment ($4 million)
• The Territory Small Business Financial Fitness Fund - helping businesses improve their financial knowledge and sustainability ($2 million)
• The Territory Small Business Supply Chain Solver - to help find solutions to supply chain issues affecting Territory businesses ($2 million)
• The Get SET in the NT program - supporting school leavers to study in the Territory, earn in the Territory, and train in the Territory ($5.2 million).

The Budget includes a $10 million investment to slash red tape for new and expanding Territory small businesses, by bringing standard food and retail approval applications fully online.

This will allow new and expanding businesses to: submit applications, track applications, exchange further information, and receive their approvals - all online.

Budget 2020 also progresses reforms that were endorsed by the Territory Economic Reconstruction Commission in its first report. Three key projects are:

• $1.2 million for a feasibility study into an 'electricity superhighway' between Darwin and Alice Springs - to assess the opportunities for a transmission link in a renewable energy future, and a potential link to the National Electricity Grid.
• $6.6 million in the Renewable Remote Power Program, beginning with a pilot program to supplement the power supply at Wurrumiyanga with renewables replacing diesel, with further roll-out across remote communities in the future.
• $3.7 million to accelerate the initial work currently underway to secure our water supply infrastructure - including advancing the Adelaide River Off-stream Water Storage project.

The Budget continues the Government's unprecedented investment in job-creating infrastructure, with $1.75 billion in total infrastructure payments - 60 per cent of which is allocated to remote and regional areas.

The Budget shows that the Territory economy is estimated to have grown in the last financial year while the Australian economy went backwards, and the Territory economy is expected to outperform the national economy in 2020-21. The Territory's unemployment rate is below the national average, and is forecast to stay lower.

As expected, the Territory Budget has been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis, especially in GST revenue - with a cumulative loss of $1.6 billion in GST and relativity top-up payments over four years, compared to 2019-20 projections.

The 2020-21 Budget forecasts a fiscal balance deficit of $2.45 billion, which is projected to more than halve to $1.1 billion in the next two years by 2022-23.

Budget 2020 continues the Government's long-term budget repair work with the introduction of the Government's new wages policy, in line with the recommendations of A Plan for Budget Repair.

From 2021-22 wage indexation will be paused for four years, with an annual retention bonus available of $1000. The new wages policy will improve the budget position by $424 million over four years from 2021-22.

Because we are focusing on our priorities and constraining growth in other expenditure, the 2020 Budget forecasts a reduction in government expenditure every year over the forward estimates - with total expenditure expected to be $1 billion lower in 2023-24, than what is projected in 2020-21.

For more information on Budget 2020, visit www.budget.nt.gov.au

Chief Minister Michael Gunner said: "The Territory is the safest place in Australia, and that means we can have the strongest recovery in Australia.

"My government is determined to turn this once-in-a-century crisis into a once-in-a-century opportunity for the Territory, and make the Territory the comeback capital of Australia.

"There's no escaping the budget hit from the coronavirus crisis. It's affected every government in the country, and we are not immune.

"But because we have controlled the virus, kept the Territory in business and kept Territorians working, we can recover quickly and strongly.

"There is no long shopping list in this budget. This is a budget for the times. It's firmly focused on our priorities - protecting the Territory, protecting jobs, and kick-starting the Territory's comeback."

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