Parliamentary record : Part I debates (11 November 1986)
Debates for 4th Assembly 1983 - 1987; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 4th Assembly 1983 - 1987
1986-11-11
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
English
Debates
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Darwin
application/pdf
Attribution International 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/220605
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/698931
DEBATES - Tuesday 11 November 1986 and motels showed a significant 32.5% increase, while the increase for caravan park takings was a dramatic 37.1%. Sound growth has been experienced in horticulture, fishing and mineral and petroleum exploration. The pipeline has been completed and soon will be supplying gas to Tennant Creek and Darwin. Let me say, Mr Speaker, that today is not only Remembrance Day, it is the day that gas arrived in Darwin. The pipeline is a prime example of what can be accomplished when a government works in tandem with the private sector. It demonstrates what a government with vision can achieve. The devaluation of the Australian dollar over the past 6 months has opened up more export opportunities. It has had an immediate impact on the tourist industry, bringing more international visitors to the Territory and keeping at home more Australians who are now holidaying in the Territory. Today, I received an official letter from QANTAS stating that, as a direct result of a 29% growth in the traffic on the Singapore to Darwin route this year, from April next year there will be a third QANTAS service from Darwin to Singapore. That third flight will terminate ex overseas at Darwin. That is a sign of the growth and development that is occurring here. The government is pursuing a number of initiatives to foster development of Asian markets. These include our policies on mineral exploration and mining, the Trade Development Zone, tourism offices overseas and the promotion of agricultural and horticultural export industries. This brings me to my own portfol io areas. On 14 July, I announced administrative changes to the public service, i nvo 1 vi ng the estab 1 i shment of a Trade and Marketi ng . Servi ces Bureau and a Northern Territory Development Council. The principal role of the bureau is: to promote the Northern Territory, both within Australia and overseas, as an ideal place to invest; to act as a catalyst in identifying investment opportunities in specific industry sectors; to develop those opportunities in a marketable form; and to promote those packages to entrepreneurs. The bureau is liaising closely with industry departments: to increase awareness amongst prospective investors and trading partners of the development potential of the Northern Territory; to promote the export-potential awareness of Northern Territory industries and companies and to improve their capacity to compete in the international ,marketplace; to motivate industry to become more export-orientated and to facilitate the development of exports; to attract new industries, particularly those with export potential; and to publicise and monitor government policies and incentives. Already, the bureau has played a key role in undertaking a trade delegation to Brunei which resulted in increased sales of NT goods. Dealing with the NT police, fire and emergency services, the budget allocation for 1986-87 is $46.3m, an increase of almost $3.4m on last year's actual expenditure. I want to touch on just a few of the initiatives under way. A new central fire station is being developed in Darwin. The design has now been completed and the station is ready for the tender stage of development at a target cost of $4.1m. It is designed and located to provide the utmost protection to the city centre and the commercial areas at Winnellie. It will combine both the administrative and operational components of the NT Fire Service into the foreseeable future. The station is due to be completed in mid-1988 and will equal the facilities available in any capital city. 814