Budget Paper No.6 1997/98 Northern Territory Economy
Tabled Paper 3223
Tabled Papers for 7th Assembly 1994 - 1997; Tabled papers; ParliamentNT; Tabled Papers
1997-04-30
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory under Standing Order 240. Where copyright subsists with a third party it remains with the original owner and permission may be required to reuse the material.
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https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/289257
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/404114
Figure 2.2 shows a production based analysis of GSP for 1994-95 that reveals the structural differences between the Northern Territory economy and the national economy. Most notably, mining and government administration and defence make a much larger contribution to the Territory economy. Conversely, the manufacturing, business and financial services and wholesale trade sectors are less significant in the Territory than nationally. This reflects the Territorys strong resource base and its maturing stage of economic development. Mining contributed 16.5% of GSP in 1994-95 which is almost four times the national average. Unfortunately the Territory does not realise all the benefits from mining as most output is exported in raw form and further processed interstate or overseas. Over time the mining industrys share of GSP has been declining, in part the result of the increasing significance of other industries. Government administration and defence has always been considerably higher in its contribution to economic activity in the Territory than nationally. This is because of the Territorys small population and large area which creates difficulties in achieving economies in administration and the delivery of services. After a period of fluctuating influence this sector is now expected to remain strong with the continuation of the Army Presence in the North program. This will see a major expansion of defence facilities in the Territory as well as a significant increase in the number of personnel and associated activity. Manufacturing, transport and communications and property and business services showed strong growth in their contribution to GSP between 1993-94 and 1994-95. This is evidence of the success of the Territory government in developing the non-resource based industries and is expected to continue. Maximising the benefits from its natural endowments and encouraging a diverse range of industry sectors will place the Territory in a more secure position where it is less vulnerable to movements in commodity prices. In terms of diversity, the Territory economy is not appreciably different from Australia or the other resource rich states of Queensland and Western Australia. The four largest industries in the Territory accounted for 42% 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 Private Consumption Public Consumption Private Investment Public Investment Per cent of Final Demand Northern Territory Australia Source: ABS Cat. No. 5242.0 and 5206.0 Final Demand - 1995-96Figure 2.3 Economic Growth 9