Manison to see deficit blowout due to less income including GST
As the Northern Territory government seeks to attract more people north, especially women, with a treasurer Nicole Manison has set her sights on freight transport infrastructure as well.
For the price of a blowout in the deficit and with GST down $317 million certain spending will not be cut but the public sector is suffer 250 job cuts over the next four years.
For businesses, though, there will be a two-year payroll tax rebate for those employing new staff or replace fly in, fly out (FIFO) non-local staff with Territorians.
Manison, who is also deputy chief minister and holds the infrastructure, planning and logistics portfolios, has $1.45 billion for all infrastructure.
Road and transport infrastructure remains a priority on the 2018-19 infrastructure program, with $543.8 million for roads, airstrips, barge landings and transport access upgrades, including $58.2 million for new projects and $485.6 million for revoted works.
An additional $5 million is provided in capital grants for Tiwi Island road upgrades, bringing the total spend to $548.8 million.
Canberra will stump up $8.45 million for the ‘Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program round 5 – hardstand for road trains and new test facility for heavy vehicles’ and $1.38 million for ‘safe truck parking at South Alligator Roadhouse on the Arnhem Highway’.
Other headline road or road-related items, some of which are jointly funded include:
- $76 million on the Adelaide River flood plain section of the Arnhem Highway
- $38 million for Darwin’s Barneson Boulevard
- $98 million for Keep River Plains Road and Gunn Point Road in support of the huge Project Sea Dragon prawn faming project
- $11.8 million on Barkly Stock Route improvements
- $23.8 million to extend Plenty Highway sealing
- $9.9 million on the on Tablelands Highway, improving access and removing load restrictions on bridges
- $5 million to seal the Central Arnhem Road between Bulman and the airstrip
- $3.2 million continuing the Roads to Recovery Program within the Territory on targeted local roads
- $16.9 million on national network roads maintenance
- $5.67 million on better heavy vehicle access into Pinelands through an intersection upgrade at McKinnon Road in Palmerston and Litchfield.
- $14.3 million continuing works on three priority projects on the regional road network as part of the Regional Roads Productivity Package: Roper Highway, Buntine Highway and Arnhem Link Road.
Against that, departmental capital works spending on infrastructure development falls from $193 million to $176 million, on national network from $86 million to $58 million and on Territory roads from $581 million to $463 million.
While heavy vehicle registration fees are determined by the Standing Council on Transport and Infrastructure, lighter vehicles are a Territory matter. Either way, the Territory is expecting a 3 per cent rise in takings to $56.2 million from July 1.
Those transport and logistics firms servicing the resources exploration industry can hope to see a proportion of incentives of $26 million over four years flow their way