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Speaker 1: We also the budget was handed down yesterday and significantly

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Speaker 1: the Property Council of Australia's Northern Territory branch say that

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Speaker 1: the property activation levy has been abolished. Now joining me

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Speaker 1: on the line is the Property Council of the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory's Chief Executive, Ruth Palmer. Good morning to you, Ruth,

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Speaker 1: Good morning Katie. Now, Ruth, obviously this property activation levy,

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Speaker 1: it's been something that's been in place for a few

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Speaker 1: years now. For those out there listening who don't know

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Speaker 1: exactly what it was, just briefly tell us.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks Katie. Firstly, great to hear that it is

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Speaker 2: being abolished. This tax was brought in a few years

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Speaker 2: ago to basically tax property owners within the CBD if

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Speaker 2: they didn't have activated buildings or if they had vacant

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Speaker 2: chop brunts that were more than fifty percent vacant. So

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Speaker 2: basically it was just getting money out of the back

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Speaker 2: pocket of Territorian that were doing it tough at the

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Speaker 2: time and slapping them with attack. Seeing this ineffective populist

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Speaker 2: policy abolished is a welcome news for our industry growth.

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Speaker 1: Will the abolishment though, mean that some of these properties

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Speaker 1: that are sort of abandoned or that aren't being rented

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Speaker 1: at the moment that they're just going to be left

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Speaker 1: to look terrible.

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Speaker 2: So what this was, Katie, it was a band aid

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Speaker 2: solution to the real problem that was happening in the CBD,

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Speaker 2: but not even just the CBD around it as well,

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Speaker 2: which was you know, we're currently in poor economic conditions.

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Speaker 2: Our vacancy rates are the highest in the nation. We're

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Speaker 2: not seeing the population growing, so we're not seeing activation

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Speaker 2: of those buildings. So what we now have the opportunity

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Speaker 2: to do is be able to sit down with government,

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Speaker 2: sit down with property owners and stakeholders and counsel and

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Speaker 2: look at the real solutions as to how we can

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Speaker 2: really look to activate these spaces but encourage businesses to

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Speaker 2: want to set up their stores or shops here in

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Speaker 2: the Darwin CBD. So you know, this is now the

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Speaker 2: conversation that we need to have and the opportunity we've

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Speaker 2: got now that the government has abolished this ineffective Levy Bruth,

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Speaker 2: what do you.

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Speaker 1: Reckon does need to happen? I mean, I know that

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Speaker 1: that population growth has a huge part to play here,

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Speaker 1: but we certainly do see quite a few vacant locations

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Speaker 1: around the CBD. It doesn't look great, but what are

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Speaker 1: some of the answers potentially, So it's coming together.

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Speaker 2: And being able to work out what industries want to

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Speaker 2: come into the city, but also around our commercial properties

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Speaker 2: as well. So this levee also affected commercial spaces that

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Speaker 2: weren't filled by office workers or other businesses coming into

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Speaker 2: the territory. So then again there's a conversation of how

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Speaker 2: do we encourage investment to want to be into the CBD,

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Speaker 2: but also getting business back into the CBD. We know

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Speaker 2: that the government did decentralize a lot of their buildings

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Speaker 2: out of the city center, which then left quite big

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Speaker 2: holes within the CBD. So you know, they're very hard

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Speaker 2: to feel when you lose around three hundred to four

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Speaker 2: hundred people footprint that needs to be replaced. But you know,

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Speaker 2: it's about the population, it's about the amenity in the CBD,

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Speaker 2: but it's also around back crime and safety. That's a

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Speaker 2: really big factor as to why people are also packing

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Speaker 2: up their shops in the city.

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Speaker 1: Ruth, I know that you are in Alice Springs at

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Speaker 1: the moment as I understand it, meeting with some of

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Speaker 1: the property owners down there.

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Speaker 2: What are you hearing oh look, Katie, it's and you know,

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Speaker 2: you sort of think Darwen and Parmesan are bad. But

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Speaker 2: the guys down here they're at their wits end. So

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Speaker 2: I've been down here yesterday with back to back meetings

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Speaker 2: with businesses, with some of the restauranteurs, with government, and

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Speaker 2: we have a round table with all of the Alice

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Speaker 2: Springs counselors today and they are absolutely at their wits ends.

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Speaker 2: There is worsening unexceptible behavior. There's worsening crime, but this

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Speaker 2: is violent crime as well. We're hearing stories of workers

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Speaker 2: being pinned down while their businesses are being ransacked and

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Speaker 2: cars stolen. We're hearing of hundreds of thousands of dollar

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Speaker 2: is being spent on security and window replacements on a

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Speaker 2: daily basis, and that the glaziers as saying no to

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Speaker 2: jobs because they're up all night trying to fix other

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Speaker 2: broken windows. These are just rocks being thrown through windows

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Speaker 2: for no real reason, basically just because they're either bored

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Speaker 2: or they're intoxicate. But that there's kids and adults throwing

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Speaker 2: rocks just through through windows of these premises. But staffing

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Speaker 2: has also been a massive talking point. So we're talking

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Speaker 2: to businesses saying that they just can't get stuff and

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Speaker 2: they cannot retain stuff, so that they are leaving purely

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Speaker 2: because of safety reasons, especially if you're being pinned down

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Speaker 2: by people and being having your office ransacks. That's just

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Speaker 2: absolutely it's not blarn behavior. And you know it is

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Speaker 2: shocking to hear, and you know it's it's now becoming

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Speaker 2: a cost of living issue because insurances in Alice Springs

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Speaker 2: is rising, and you know it's very hard to ensure

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Speaker 2: your places. It's when they're getting broken into every day.

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Speaker 2: So we have a huge day again today talking back

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Speaker 2: and forth with government, but also with that roundtable with

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Speaker 2: counsel with all the counselors and the mayor, so you know,

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Speaker 2: hopefully we can sort of come up with some solutions

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Speaker 2: that are going to really help our springs and sort

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Speaker 2: of get to how we can sort of all work

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Speaker 2: together and come up with some answers because at the moment,

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Speaker 2: we're losing people and people are absolutely fed up with it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel for people in Alice Springs, and you know,

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Speaker 1: right across the board, I think we all understand that

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Speaker 1: these issues that we're seeing with real senseless crime is

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Speaker 1: absolutely dominating for so many territories, particularly if you're a

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Speaker 1: property owner or a business owner small business owner and

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Speaker 1: you're grappling with it on the daily, Ruth, we really

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Speaker 1: appreciate your chatting with us today. Thanks so much.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks a lot. Katie really appreciate it. Thank you.