Darwin Major Business Group

At the National Press Club last week, former Treasury Secretary and current Chancellor of Macquarie University, Dr Martin Parkinson , warned that Australia faces slower growth and persistent cost pressures. That may be true nationally but in the Northern Territory, growth is being held back by something far more immediate, and far more fixable. Federal policy. Right now, across the Territory, businesses are ready to invest, projects are ready to proceed, and national priorities from defence capability to energy security are increasingly centred in the north, but they are not moving at the pace they should. Not because of a lack of capital, not because of a lack of demand, because of a lack of people. And that shortage is being made worse, not better, by federal policies. At the Darwin Major Business Group’s recent economic analysis launch in late March, business leaders Vicki-Leigh Lettice , David Malone and Mark Furlotte made it clear: the Territory’s biggest constraint is workforce. While this is not new, what is new is the scale of the disconnect between what the Territory needs and how federal policy is responding. Employers across the NT are offering jobs today to skilled workers but those workers are waiting, in some cases more than two years for visa processing and approval. Two years. In any business environment, that is not a delay it is a decision to not proceed. Projects are being slowed, expansion plans are being shelved, investment is being redirected. That is the ‘path of least resistance’ rule in play. Critically, this is not just a Territory issue, it is a national one, because many of the projects being delayed are tied directly to Australia’s strategic priorities, defence logistics, energy supply, critical infrastructure and northern development. At the same National Press Club event, Violet Roumeliotis , CEO of Settlement Services International (ISS), made a practical point: Australia already has people here, migrants and international students, who could be contributing more effectively to the workforce. In the Territory, that is not an abstract policy discussion, it is an immediate solution, yet barriers remain: People ready to work cannot access jobs, Employers ready to hire cannot access workers, and in between sits a system that is too slow, too rigid and too disconnected from real economic conditions. This is not a market failure, it is a policy failure. If the Commonwealth is serious about productivity, then it needs to confront a basic truth, you cannot deliver national economic and strategic outcomes without the workforce to build them. And right now, that workforce is being delayed by design because a one-size-fits-all migration system may suit larger states managing population pressure but it is actively constraining the Territory, the very region expected to deliver on Australia’s future. The Northern Territory is not asking for special treatment, it is asking for policy that works. That means: Fast-tracking visas for workers with confirmed jobs in the NT — measured in weeks, not years Clearing the backlog of applications currently sitting in the system Allowing migrants and international students already in Australia to enter the workforce immediately, where shortages exist Setting processing benchmarks that reflect economic urgency, not administrative convenience Because every month of delay is not neutral and it has a cost. That cost is lost output, deferred investment, reduced productivity and slower national growth. The Territory is ready to deliver, but it cannot do so with a workforce that exists on paper, not on the ground. Canberra does not need a new strategy; it can fix what is broken. The Territory needs this to happen now. ----- Click here to watch Dr Martin Parkinson AC PSM & Violet Roumeliotis AM's Address to the National Press Club

The Darwin Major Business Group has released the full keynote address delivered by DMBG Chair, Steve Margetic, at the Group’s third annual economic event. The address was delivered to 180 Territory business leaders and strategic thinkers from across the private sector and government. In the address, Mr Margetic issued a clear and direct call to action, stating the Northern Territory is at a “fork in the road” and “2026 must be the year when everyone leans in and gets involved. No arms crossed, sitting back in indulgence, no finger pointing. We have to move from ‘hope’ to momentum. Where real things get done – and get done at pace. This is not a one-person job; it's everyone’s.” Read the full keynote address below.