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Speaker 1: It's been an incredibly busy night. I think you'd have

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Speaker 1: to say possibly busy early morning as well in Parliament

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Speaker 1: and the Northern Territory Treasurer Bill Yan joins me on

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Speaker 1: the line, good morning to your bill.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Kay, and good morning the people in the

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Speaker 2: top end.

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Speaker 1: Now bill the government earlier this morning passing the Territory

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Speaker 1: Coordinator Bill in Parliament. The Chief Minister leofanocchi Aro welcoming

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Speaker 1: the passage of that bill, highlighting its significance and redefining

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Speaker 1: the way business is done. In the Northern Territory Treasurer,

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Speaker 1: the discussion went well into the night. What time did

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Speaker 1: you finish up and what do you think the passing

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Speaker 1: of this legislation means.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, I think we finished in the chamber about

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Speaker 2: one thirty kyerd about quarters, so I think by the

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Speaker 2: time we got out of probably got out of Parliament House.

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Speaker 2: It was a pretty epic session. Hats offs and Chief mints.

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Speaker 2: I think nearly six and a half hours in the

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Speaker 2: chair during consideration in detail. But Kay, this is a

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Speaker 2: turning portant at the end of the day for the

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Speaker 2: territory and for our economic development. It provides that certainly,

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Speaker 2: I think the proponents who are looking to come and

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Speaker 2: invest here in the territory. We've seen that the blockages

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Speaker 2: and the difficulties of doing business and the shuffling between

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Speaker 2: departments of proponents who are looking to develop significant projects.

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Speaker 2: And this will be now one stop shop through the

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Speaker 2: Territory Coordinator. They'll be able to course go out and

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Speaker 2: find and start to drive those projects and then work

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Speaker 2: with those proponents and government to deliver those projects. And

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Speaker 2: we need that investment here in the territory. Cade we

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Speaker 2: know what our budget's like, it's in a bit of

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Speaker 2: a whole major oles. We need those proponents. We need

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Speaker 2: that outside investment in the territory to start to drive

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Speaker 2: our economoon, start to produce those royalsies and that other

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Speaker 2: income for territory and so we can do the things

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Speaker 2: that we want to do.

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Speaker 1: Treasure. There were a number of amendments which the Crossbench

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Speaker 1: attempted to make. Why did the government choose to knock

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Speaker 1: back many of those changes which were proposed by the

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Speaker 1: Scrutiny Committee as well?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well look Okatie, there was a lot of amendments

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Speaker 2: come through, But what the Territory Coordinator Bill was always

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Speaker 2: about is cutting through that rotape and making processes easier

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Speaker 2: to actually get projects off the ground and get the moving.

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Speaker 2: And a lot of the amendments were brought forward actually

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Speaker 2: wound back what the bill was actually about. So it

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Speaker 2: was about putting more bureaucratic processes into the bill to actually,

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Speaker 2: funny enough, slow things down, and that's the opposite to

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Speaker 2: what we're trying to achieve. We're trying to remove bureaucratic

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Speaker 2: processes and speed of those timelines up because we've lost

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Speaker 2: so many projects in the territory because of the timeiness

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Speaker 2: on delivering the timeliness of making decisions. So the bill

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Speaker 2: is about changing that. So anything that was going to

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Speaker 2: actually create more bureaucratic process for the sake of bureaucratic

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Speaker 2: process defeats what the purpose of the bill was. But

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Speaker 2: there are a number of things that were raised by

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Speaker 2: the Scrutiny Committee, Katie, that were changed in the bill,

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Speaker 2: some of the reporting, some stuff coming back to Parliament

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Speaker 2: for reviews. So there was some stuff that actually made

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Speaker 2: good sense for that transparency that was brought through. But

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Speaker 2: anything that was actually changing what the makeup of the

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Speaker 2: bill was about and actually slowing things down and adding

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Speaker 2: bureaucratic processes certainly wasn't supported by us.

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Speaker 1: Well, look it's forged ahead. It is happening and you know,

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Speaker 1: time will tell what kind of difference it does make

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Speaker 1: in terms of getting projects moving in the Northern Territory Treasurer.

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Speaker 1: A large focus for the opposition yesterday in Parliament was

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Speaker 1: indeed the Ikach Report operation of POLO. We now know

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Speaker 1: that the Chief Minister obviously announced late yesterday that the

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Speaker 1: termination of the former Police Commissioner Michael Murphy on the

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Speaker 1: recommendation of the Executive Council contract was indeed terminated. In

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Speaker 1: terms of the discussion yesterday in question Time, the Opposition

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Speaker 1: was saying that the Chief Minister could have come out

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Speaker 1: publicly with the report sooner. Do you think that the

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Speaker 1: Chief Minister has acted quickly enough? Oh?

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, Okay, It's interesting the opposition's tactics yesterday in relation

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Speaker 2: to this. Now we know that in the Ikak Report

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Speaker 2: it said that the report could be the Chief Minister

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Speaker 2: could table that report in parliament. So yesterday it was

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Speaker 2: the first day of parliament since the report was given

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Speaker 2: to the Chief Minister, and the first action of government.

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Speaker 2: The first piece of business today yesterday was to actually

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Speaker 2: table that report. So I don't understand how the opposition

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Speaker 2: can say that she could have come out and discussed

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Speaker 2: it earlier, because there's very strict rules. As we're all

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Speaker 2: around I CAAC. If I'm involved in an I CAAC mat,

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Speaker 2: I can't discuss it with my cabinet colleagues, I can't

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Speaker 2: discuss it with anyone. So the Chief Minister got the

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Speaker 2: report and said yes it can be table in parliament.

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Speaker 2: That doesn't mean that you can actually go out and

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Speaker 2: discussed the contents of that report publicly before parliament. It's

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Speaker 2: just I always wondered where that I were going with this.

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Speaker 2: It just didn't make a lot of sense.

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Speaker 1: I mean, do you support the way that she has

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Speaker 1: handled this whole situation.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, Katie, I said, I think we spoke about this

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Speaker 2: last week. I was in dunment for eighteen years, so

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Speaker 2: I understand how the process has worked and sometimes as

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Speaker 2: a methodical approach that you have to go through when

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Speaker 2: dealing with these matters. And of course there's natural disasters

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Speaker 2: are afforded to both sides, so getting the report and

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Speaker 2: working methodically through that decision process has to be done

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Speaker 2: otherwise we end up with what the previous government done.

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Speaker 2: With Murphy. They missed the process up and we all

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Speaker 2: know what happened there. It become an absolute debarkle. So

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Speaker 2: oh you mean to work through the process.

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Speaker 1: Sorry do you mean with Jamie Chalker? I think you

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Speaker 1: said Murphy there?

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Speaker 2: Oh sorry, mom, mind mistake. The yeah Jamie Chalker is yeah, ye.

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Speaker 2: The previous government jumped the gun on that and didn't

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Speaker 2: do the process correctly as it and it left us

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Speaker 2: with a bit of a dog's breakfast and of course

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Speaker 2: a huge payout.

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Speaker 1: Well, look, we're going to catch up with the Deputy

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Speaker 1: Opposition Leader, Duran Young in a couple of minutes, so

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Speaker 1: i'll hear what he's got to say about the situation. Treasurer,

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Speaker 1: I know that yesterday the government launched its Rebuilding the

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Speaker 1: Economy Strategy for twenty twenty five to twenty eight. It's

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Speaker 1: been described as an action plan to drive economic growth,

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Speaker 1: create jobs and restore confidence in the territory's future. I'm

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Speaker 1: sure that they're certainly your main objectives as the Treasurer.

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Speaker 1: You know some of the key priorities will five of

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Speaker 1: them making the Northern Territory the best place to do business,

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Speaker 1: building a bigger, better workforce, delivering for Australia unlocking regional growth,

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Speaker 1: connecting the Northern Territory Treasurer. We often hear slogans to

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Speaker 1: try and get things moving in the Northern Territory. I

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Speaker 1: mean boundless possible springs to mind. What exactly what exactly,

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Speaker 1: what exactly is this strategy going to do to get

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Speaker 1: things moving? Rather than just words?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and look, we put the strategy outkay, and it's

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Speaker 2: not just words. This is a signal to business. And

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Speaker 2: I said, a signal to investors that we're open to business.

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Speaker 2: And I suppose the first key part of that was

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Speaker 2: yesterday ka well actually early as this morning and passing

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Speaker 2: the Territory Coordinator Bill. So that is one part of

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Speaker 2: the best place to do business. And the second part

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Speaker 2: of that, of course is the Fast Track Approvals Task

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Speaker 2: Force and the work that they're doing. So we need

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Speaker 2: the territory to be the best place to do want

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Speaker 2: business to come to the territory because it's easy and

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Speaker 2: simple to do business here, and it hasn't been. So

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Speaker 2: that's one of the key things that we need to unlock.

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Speaker 2: We need to attract the business to the territory because

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Speaker 2: it is the best place to do business. It is

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Speaker 2: the best regulatory environment to do business. And I think

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Speaker 2: I said yesterday numerous times, is that we've got all

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Speaker 2: the resources natural resources that Western Australia has in some respects,

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Speaker 2: but we're too hard to do business. So we need

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Speaker 2: to unlock that and we can become the powerhouse of

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Speaker 2: the country. The good announcement today are supposed from the

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Speaker 2: federal government because we've been putting pressure on them ever

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Speaker 2: since we got into government about the dharma and attracting

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Speaker 2: overseas workers into the territory. So we're glad to see

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Speaker 2: that announcement. I said, we pressure on Robin Carl has

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Speaker 2: been doing a heap of work in that space to

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Speaker 2: increase that workforce. So there's another piece of that. And said,

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Speaker 2: through the resources that we have, we can deliver for

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Speaker 2: the country. We know we've got enough gas in the beadle,

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Speaker 2: I think the power the entire country for four hundred years.

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Speaker 2: We just need to unlock that potential and those benefits

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Speaker 2: then flow to territorians. But of course, strategically, if you

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Speaker 2: look at that, delivering for Australia is our of course

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Speaker 2: a strategic place within defense. We're seeing increased investment from

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Speaker 2: the defense in Australia. We're also seeing the US working

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Speaker 2: with us and now of course we have the Japanese

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Speaker 2: Self Defense Force coming to do work with us here

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Speaker 2: in a territory. So that is another piece of course

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Speaker 2: of delivering for Australia and our regional growth without communities

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Speaker 2: that's of course always going to be key because they've

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Speaker 2: got so much potential in the community is to be

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Speaker 2: part of part of this process and I think part

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Speaker 2: of the bigger picture moving forward. So it's pretty exciting, kay,

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Speaker 2: what we announced yesterday, and I said, we're working hard

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Speaker 2: now to make sure we deliver on those five key pillars.

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Speaker 1: Well, look, I think that I, like many Territorians, hope

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Speaker 1: that we do start to see the economy turn around

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Speaker 1: here in the Northern Territory. And I will take our

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Speaker 1: listeners through that new five year agreement when it comes

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Speaker 1: to DARMA a little bit later. Bill, before I let

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Speaker 1: you go this morning, what's on the agenda for the

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Speaker 1: government today in Parliament.

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Speaker 2: We're introducing a couple of bills this morning, Kay, that

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Speaker 2: will be debated next parliament. Of course, it's General Business Day,

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Speaker 2: so this is the opportunity for the opposition and Independence

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Speaker 2: to bring forward their business today. So we've got a

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Speaker 2: few things this morning or since weis are a procedural,

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Speaker 2: I said, introduce some bills, but this afternoon will be

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Speaker 2: I said, the opposition's day along with the independence. I

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Speaker 2: believe Yini Goala's got a motion that he's bringing on

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Speaker 2: this afternoon, and then I think if that if we

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Speaker 2: work through that one, I think there's a water security

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Speaker 2: from the opposition after that.

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Speaker 1: So I'll catch up with you today. I'll catch up

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Speaker 1: with the opposition in just a couple of moments. Hey,

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Speaker 1: a very quick one before I let you go, Can

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Speaker 1: you clarify for me? Yesterday during question time Dorothy Dixon,

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Speaker 1: a question was asked of the government to Steve Edgington,

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Speaker 1: the Housing Minister, about rental areas and just how badly

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Speaker 1: those in public housing are in rental areas. Did I

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Speaker 1: hear correctly that we have got thirty nine million dollars

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Speaker 1: in rental areas when it comes to public housing.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, unfortunate, Katie. You heard correctly. Previous government wrote off

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Speaker 2: nearly seventy million dollars in rental debt with the stroke

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Speaker 2: of a pen, and then, of course haven't done anything

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Speaker 2: since then to deal with those rental areas and already

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Speaker 2: since that debt we've written off, we're back up over

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Speaker 2: thirty million dollars. So there's a whole piece of work

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Speaker 2: to deal with recouping that money. But at the end

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Speaker 2: of the day, making sure that the people in public

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Speaker 2: house are actually paying rent.

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Speaker 1: Well, look, we're going to try and catch up with

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Speaker 1: the Housing Minister. Hopefully we're able to get Steve Edgington

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Speaker 1: on the show tomorrow. Bill yea Treasurer for the Northern Territory,

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Speaker 1: Infrastructure Minister, Mister for Transport, various portfolios. Great to speak

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Speaker 1: with you this morning.

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Speaker 2: Great to talk to you Katie, and I'll see you soon.

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Speaker 1: Sounds good. Thank you,