Paul Henderson, as the minister broadly responsible for economic activity, has set himself a task to build a better Territory by first building a coalition between government, business, industry and the indigenous community. John Arbouw reports.
When the ALP won government in the Northern Territory a year ago, Clare Martin's team had no experience in actually running a government. In fact, up until then no one had seriously contemplated the possibility of the Country-Liberal Party losing any election. The learning curve was brutal and there simply weren't enough hands to man all the administrative pumps. It is why Paul Henderson, as Minister for Business, Industry and Resource Development also has the portfolios of Primary Industry and Fisheries, Energy, Asian Relations and Trade, the AustralAsia Railway, Tourism, Defence Support and Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Territory Development. It is also why Bob Collins, the former Hawke government minister and Northern Territory Senator is helping the new government formulate and implement its economic strategy. Experience in government and with the Canberra bureaucracy is invaluable if the bold aims outlined in the recent economic strategy paper are to be achieved. There is no doubting the new spirit in the Northern Territory Government and it is infectious. A young minister such as Paul Henderson is a refreshing change of pace from politicians who have been media trained to say absolutely nothing.
Enthusiasm and vision are characteristics in short supply on the Australian political scene. "What we are trying to do with the economic development strategy is to put in place specific and targeted industry development plans in a partnership between government and business," says Henderson. "It is also about identifying where our areas of competitive advantage are and capitalising on those areas. This will frame the priorities of government over the next three years. It will also frame the budget process in terms of resource allocation. "In formulating the economic plan we took a very high risk strategy and there was a lot of debate in Cabinet. Essentially the business community were very keen to see that in place. In the past there has been a number of glossy government documents promising great things but all what happened was incremental change." Building trust and co-operation between business and industry used to dealing with the CLP was not easy. It was why Henderson organised the Economic Summit last year to develop the economic strategies that all Territorians could buy into, including indigenous community.
"Business was also wary of a new government particularly a Labor government in terms of our economic credentials. We will be held accountable and no doubt our opponents will produce a scorecard measuring our success. The test will be this month when the Budget is handed down." According to Henderson, it surprised him upon taking office that there was no sectoral development plans say for the cut flower industry or the live cattle industry. From its budget of $3 billion, the Government will kick-start several of the components of the new strategy but it will then seek the support of relevant businesses. We will provide the first cut of that from the public sector. "We need to diversify the economy but we can't do that without a reliable source of cheap power," he says. "At the moment the cost of power in the Territory is the highest in Australia. It is why both government and business are completely united in trying to bring gas onshore." Henderson is also enthusiastic about Darwin as a trade gateway to Asia. The discussion paper on international trade released in June says total exports in 2001 was more than $3.4 billion or $17,500 for every man, woman and child in the Territory. However, 90 percent of exports revolve around oil and minerals.
"If we can bring the cost of energy down then all those companies that are exporting into Asia will have an advantage if they relocate to Darwin," says Henderson. Good relations with Asian countries north of Australia are vital to the Territory. In the past, NT ministers were expected to learn Indonesian. Singapore is a major market as is Korea and Japan. "Our future economic prosperity does lie with our Asian neighbours and it is absolutely fundamental that we develop those opportunities," he says. "But this has to be done in a spirit not only of trade or economic inter-action but also engagement between people. "Our Asian neighbours have a different perception of us than they do to the rest of Australia. Much of this is thanks to previous CLP governments. For instance the Chief Minister was the first state leader to meet with Indonesian President Megawati. "However, we want to be more strategically focussed rather than dealing with perceptions. We want real outcomes." It is also real outcomes that the NT voters will be looking for in two years time. A railway, a gas project and a diversified economy will certainly be benchmarks by which the Territory's first ALP government will be measured.
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