Territory Stories

Budget Paper No.6 1997/98 Northern Territory Economy

Details:

Title

Budget Paper No.6 1997/98 Northern Territory Economy

Other title

Tabled Paper 3223

Collection

Tabled Papers for 7th Assembly 1994 - 1997; Tabled papers; ParliamentNT

Date

1997-04-30

Notes

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.

Language

English

Subject

Tabled papers

File type

application/pdf

Use

Copyright

Copyright owner

See publication

License

https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C1968A00063

Parent handle

https://hdl.handle.net/10070/289257

Citation address

https://hdl.handle.net/10070/404114

Page content

Transport and Communications A feature of the Territory is that it has a small population distributed over a large area. This has necessitated the development of efficient Transport and Communications links. As a share of Gross State Product, communications, transport and storage accounts for 8.2%, slightly lower than the national average. Transport The Northern Territory Government has identified the development of Darwin as a multi-modal transport and logistics hub as a priority. This involves positioning Darwin as a gateway between Asia and the rest of Australia and relies on the existence of comprehensive and efficient transport links. Consequently, the Territory Government has instigated several large transport infrastructure projects in recent years. Stage One of the new East Arm Port, costing approximately $80 million, is due to be completed in late 1997 and will more than double Darwins present port capacity. The new port will provide facilities for handling general cargo, livestock exports and bulk liquids while the existing port will continue to service container vessels, roll on - roll off vessels and bulk cargo exports. One of the features of the new port is the provision of a terminal for the proposed Alice Springs to Darwin railway. The volume of both exports and imports shipped through the Port of Darwin (excluding private berths) increased by 31.2% in 1996. Growing demand for Territory live cattle in Malaysia and Indonesia and mineral exports to China were major contributors to growth in export volumes of 32.8% over the year. Live cattle exports through the Port of Darwin (including private berths) totalled 383 535 head in 1996, an increase of 30% over the previous year. Darwin has shipping links to Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Brunei and several Australian ports. Figure 14.1 shows that the overwhelming majority of international freight movements through the Port of Darwin (excluding private berths) are to and from Asia and in particular members of ASEAN. In total ASEAN accounted for 57% of freight movements, while Asia as a whole accounted for 90%. Visits by trading vessels continue to increase, particularly livestock vessels, although non-trading vessel visits to Port Authority facilities have declined Table 14.1 Communication, Transport and Storage % of GSP Queensland 9.7 New South Wales 8.8 South Australia 8.6 Victoria 8.3 Northern Territory 8.2 Western Australia 7.7 Tasmania 7.0 Australian Capital Territory 5.8 Australia 8.6 Source: ABS Cat. No. 5220.0, 1994-95 81