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Speaker 1: Yesterday we learned that interest rates have increased by another

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Speaker 1: quarter of eight percent, jumping to their highest level since

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Speaker 1: twenty thirteen. So the RBA has lifted rates for the

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Speaker 1: seventh month in a row, with the official cash rate

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Speaker 1: jumping twenty five basis points to two point eight five percent,

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Speaker 1: So homeowners with an average mortgage of seven hundred and

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Speaker 1: fifty thousand dollars will be slugged up to or about

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Speaker 1: one hundred dollars extra on their monthly repayments. The Reserve

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Speaker 1: Bank is hoping that its latest move will help to

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Speaker 1: ease those consumer prices, but as things stand, inflation is

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Speaker 1: still expected to peak at about eight percent by the.

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Speaker 2: End of the year.

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Speaker 1: So what are the impacts in this well with this

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Speaker 1: rate rise? What are they going to have? What are

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Speaker 1: those impacts going to have when it comes to consumer

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Speaker 1: spending and on local business here in the Northern Territory Well.

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Speaker 1: Joining me on the line is the CEO of the

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Speaker 1: Chamber of Commerce, Greg Island. Good morning to you, Greg.

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Speaker 3: Good morning, Katie, Good morning everyone.

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Speaker 1: Now, Greg, there is no doubt that this increase is

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Speaker 1: going to have an impact on a lot of people.

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Speaker 1: Is it having an impact though on small business when

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Speaker 1: it comes to spending.

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Speaker 3: Look, certainly is Katie, the fact that increased inflation hits

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Speaker 3: everyone in the back pocket, consumers as well as business,

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Speaker 3: so it has a flow on effect absolutely through the

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Speaker 3: general economy. I think we can consider ourselves a little

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Speaker 3: bit lucky that the rate increases is just a quarter

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Speaker 3: of a percent at this point in time. There's several

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Speaker 3: forecasters thinking it was likely to be more. But I

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Speaker 3: think we can rest assured that in months to come,

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Speaker 3: those rache will continue to write.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And this is the worry, isn't it? For so

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Speaker 1: many of us right around the nation and indeed around

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Speaker 1: the territory. It's not just your mortgage rates, but cost

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Speaker 1: of living in other areas. And I guess what it

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Speaker 1: sometimes means is that if you're not able to pay

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Speaker 1: your bills as easily as what you usually would be,

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Speaker 1: you don't spend as much money when you're head out

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Speaker 1: and about.

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Speaker 3: That's absolutely the Katie. As we all know, discretionary spending

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Speaker 3: is the first thing that ceases, and that means maybe

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Speaker 3: you're not out at a restaurant or the movies, or

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Speaker 3: just making that purchase down to local Bunnings or wherever,

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Speaker 3: So that will certainly have a flow on effect to

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Speaker 3: the retail environment as people tighten their belts in that

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Speaker 3: regard as the cost of living does increase. But also

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Speaker 3: the same thing happens to business itself. It has loans

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Speaker 3: and nets to service and they've generally gone up, and

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Speaker 3: that potentially means increasing the cost of goods, which adds

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Speaker 3: to that inflation rise that we're talking about. So it

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Speaker 3: is a bit of a vicious circle there. But I

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Speaker 3: think from a territory perspective, we're coming off a off

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Speaker 3: the back of a very good dry season, so let's

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Speaker 3: hope that we can keep a little bit of momentum up.

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Speaker 3: We see some tourists through our green season, and that'll

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Speaker 3: help us get by well.

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Speaker 1: And that's the thing. It is a bit of a

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Speaker 1: like right now is traditionally a slower time.

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Speaker 2: As you've said, it's.

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Speaker 1: The green season.

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Speaker 2: It's also a little bit warmer with the build up,

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Speaker 2: and I think we've all been feeling but how have

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Speaker 2: things been going for recent you know, for businesses in

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Speaker 2: recent weeks, Like you said, we've had a really you know,

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Speaker 2: bumper dry season, But how has it been over the

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Speaker 2: last few weeks.

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Speaker 3: And certainly showing signs of slowing down as those temperatures increase,

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Speaker 3: and I guess that's only natural. But feedback has still

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Speaker 3: been relatively positive that there are still tourists getting around

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Speaker 3: town and we're making the most of that opportunity. Or

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Speaker 3: saw another great, big white boat park down at the

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Speaker 3: wharf the other day, so you know, that just means

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Speaker 3: more people getting around town and that's good for business

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Speaker 3: and good for everybody.

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Speaker 1: Greg, I know, one of the nation's most awarded mortgage brokers,

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Speaker 1: believes that borrowers do need to rain in there spending

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Speaker 1: this Christmas to help to fight inflation. So basically saying

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Speaker 1: if we want interest rates to go down, then all

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Speaker 1: we need to do. We all need to do our

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Speaker 1: bit to help reduce inflation, including raining in spending where possible.

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Speaker 1: But Greg, that would indeed have a big impact, you

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Speaker 1: know on territory businesses, wouldn't it if everybody's raining it

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Speaker 1: right in iver Christmas time?

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Speaker 3: Look, it certainly will, and I guess there's a bit

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Speaker 3: of moderation required there. We saw the efforts of supporting

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Speaker 3: local business during COVID. We know where near that particular situation,

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Speaker 3: people will continue to enjoy the opportunities they have to

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Speaker 3: mingle and engage with local business in the territory over Christmas,

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Speaker 3: I'm sure, but you'll certainly see a tightening of belts

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Speaker 3: and that will progressively impact us as these interest rates

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Speaker 3: do keep rising. They are forecasting eight to nine percent

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Speaker 3: CPI increases, so that is a few more points above

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Speaker 3: where we're at now.

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Speaker 1: I mean, what would you say to territories this morning.

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Speaker 1: I know that everybody's pretty concerned about about their spending

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Speaker 1: and making sure that they're doing things sensibly, but we

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Speaker 1: do still want things ticking over. Don't we want businesses

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Speaker 1: to be supported?

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Speaker 3: Yeah? Absolutely, I think moderation is the key word there,

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Speaker 3: Katie Keeper, balance on what you're doing. Don't stop spending

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Speaker 3: because that will hurt the local business community and we

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Speaker 3: all need them to be surviving and keeping on ticking.

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Speaker 3: We're at a crisis point by any stretch of the

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Speaker 3: imagination yet, but be aware of contributing into that general

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Speaker 3: circular economy.

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Speaker 1: How are things going at the moment when it comes

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Speaker 1: to the workforce shortage. I know that Brendan O'Connor, the

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Speaker 1: federal minister, was in town over the weekend. Any good

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Speaker 1: news for the northern territory.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, look, there's a couple of shoots on the tree,

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Speaker 3: so to speak, Katie that we met with Minister O'Connor

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Speaker 3: over the weekend and have the opportunity to have that conversation.

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Speaker 3: There is a strong focus on building resilience in the

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Speaker 3: workforce and that includes activities particularly on the migration side

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Speaker 3: of things. So the Chamber is part of an arrangement

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Speaker 3: with Master Builders and also the Minerals Council is looking

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Speaker 3: to starting some overseas recruitment drives from next calendar year.

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Speaker 3: That'll see very active overseas looking to actively recruit for

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Speaker 3: territory businesses. So there'll be some upsides coming. It's just

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Speaker 3: a matter of again keeping everything heading in the right

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Speaker 3: direction as we head towards the twenty thirty forty billion

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Speaker 3: dollar economy.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Right, So how many staff are sort of looking for

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Speaker 1: through that campaign and how quickly could they get started.

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Speaker 3: Well, there'll be people in country from early next year

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Speaker 3: and then they'll be actively looking. There'll be a staged

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Speaker 3: approach to that particular program, but in the short to

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Speaker 3: medium term, two hundred and fifty to five hundred people

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Speaker 3: potentially pushing up towards one thousand over the course of

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Speaker 3: the program, so pretty significant activity in that space for

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Speaker 3: territory business.

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Speaker 1: Yeah right, it does sound that way, and Greg, I

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Speaker 1: know that. You know, there's been quite a massive investment

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Speaker 1: we heard last week of course through the federal budget.

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Speaker 1: When it comes to infrastructure spending here in the territory,

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Speaker 1: there are still some concerns so when it comes to

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Speaker 1: trying to make sure that we've got the workforce to

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Speaker 1: carry out some of that work, you know, is that

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Speaker 1: something that the Chamber is keeping an eye on too, Lork.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, we're very keen to make sure that everyone's got

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Speaker 3: access to resources that they can. It's going to be challenging,

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Speaker 3: but we'll keep working in that direction.

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Speaker 1: Hey, Greg, before I let you go, I know that

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Speaker 1: crime has been something everybody's been keeping a really close

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Speaker 1: eye on. You know, it's always sort of there in

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Speaker 1: the background. How things going from your perspective and the

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Speaker 1: feedback that you're receiving from local businesses.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Look, it's certainly still a very high on everyone's

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Speaker 3: frustration list. We've seen the formation of a committee down

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Speaker 3: in our Springs. It's got a very strong focus on that.

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Speaker 3: Meeting number two for that committee is today and I'm

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Speaker 3: hopeful that we'll start to see some real flow and

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Speaker 3: effects in terms of positive outcome. So certainly watch this space.

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Speaker 3: We'll keep as active as we can.

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Speaker 1: Yeah right, we'll keep an eye on that too. Keen

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Speaker 1: to find out how that second meeting goes today. Well,

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Speaker 1: Greg Ireland from the Chamber of Commerce, the CEO. Always

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Speaker 1: good to catch up with you. I appreciate your time

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Speaker 1: this morning.

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Speaker 3: Thanks very much, Katie, Thank you