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Speaker 1: You would have heard on the show yesterday we caught

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Speaker 1: up with the Minister Paul Kirby and we're talking about

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Speaker 1: some of the initiatives to try to really lure people

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Speaker 1: to the Northern Territory in an effort to fill the

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Speaker 1: workforce shortage and specifically some of those different industries that

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Speaker 1: are really struggling at the moment. Now, it's something that

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Speaker 1: we've been talking about for a long time, even pre COVID.

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Speaker 1: It's something that had been on the agenda, but certainly,

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Speaker 1: you know, as we move out of COVID, it's something

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Speaker 1: that we're dealing with even more and more in the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory at the moment. Now joining us on the

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Speaker 1: line right now is the Property Council of the Northern Territories.

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Speaker 1: Ruth Palmer. Good morning to you, Ruth.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie.

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Speaker 1: Now, Ruth, I know that the Property Council of Australia

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Speaker 1: and particularly the Northern Territory Division have been looking at,

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Speaker 1: you know, different ways to increase the skilled worker shortage

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Speaker 1: here in the territory, but also have been looking at,

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Speaker 1: you know, where they're going to live, because I think

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Speaker 1: that this is a really big question that we'd certainly

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Speaker 1: put to the Minister yesterday. It's one that a lot

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Speaker 1: of people are asking right now, and you have indeed

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Speaker 1: issued well, you've got a bit of a discussion paper,

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Speaker 1: I guess you'd call it, including some recommendations in this space. Firstly,

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Speaker 1: you know, talk us through how you reckon we can

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Speaker 1: increase this skilled worker shortage in the territory.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Katie. Yeah, we have been working on this for

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Speaker 2: a little while now, just trying to sort of work

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Speaker 2: out how we can sort of bring people to the

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Speaker 2: territory but also how we can attract people here as well.

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Speaker 2: So it's all about that liveability aspect as well, which

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Speaker 2: we've spoken about many of times. You know that we've

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Speaker 2: sort of done that Population Report and Renewal document earlier

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Speaker 2: this year. That's got all these key economic drivers in there,

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Speaker 2: but you need to have a workforce behind it to

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Speaker 2: be able to support that. So what we have done

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Speaker 2: is we have put six recommendations forward to the Chief

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Speaker 2: Minister and also to Minister Kirby that looks at how

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Speaker 2: we can bring those people here, but also what we

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Speaker 2: can do with them while they're here, because obviously they

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Speaker 2: do need housing. But you know, this is interstate and

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Speaker 2: international workers, and sort of one of the recommendations that

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Speaker 2: we did put as our number one was converting those

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Speaker 2: quarantine facilities, So the ones out at Howard Springs. We

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Speaker 2: know that there's three thousand, five hundred bedrooms there with

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Speaker 2: on sleet that could immediately be used to be able

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Speaker 2: to house people to then further look for permanent solutions

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Speaker 2: later down the track. But it will be able to

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Speaker 2: support them while they're here working, but also provide them

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Speaker 2: with a safe place to stay and also give them

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Speaker 2: that time then to be able to look for something

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Speaker 2: additional later down the track.

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Speaker 1: So with that, you know, having somewhere saved to stay,

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Speaker 1: I mean, what are the options here roots, because at

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Speaker 1: the moment it doesn't seem like there's a you know

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Speaker 1: that there's a lot of places for people that they

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Speaker 1: can potentially leave.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's the issue Katie as well. You know,

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Speaker 2: a big component component, sorry of building the population by

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Speaker 2: building the jobs here is liveability. So we've about this

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Speaker 2: for a while now. You can't create a population, you

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Speaker 2: can't create jobs without liveability. It's a triangle. You've got

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Speaker 2: to make the nt and attractive place to stay. And yes,

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Speaker 2: it's great to have global campaigns, and it's great to

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Speaker 2: have initiatives on trying to encourage and entice people to

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Speaker 2: want to come here, but they've got to be able

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Speaker 2: to have access to quality education, healthcare, the lifestyle, liveability, safety, security,

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Speaker 2: and housing. So you know, all those three things, all

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Speaker 2: those three triangles need to all link up to be

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Speaker 2: able to create that population plan and a growth plan.

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Speaker 2: So you know, we've been very focused around the liveability piece,

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Speaker 2: and you know that that is something that we worked

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Speaker 2: hard with in that population plan that we put out

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Speaker 2: earlier this year, and obviously around that crime and unacceptable

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Speaker 2: behavior as well, So it is it is a big factor.

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Speaker 2: And for us, you know, with our six point recommendations

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Speaker 2: that we put forward, there was quite a few in there.

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Speaker 2: This one touched on the liveability aspect, but didn't focus

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Speaker 2: as heavily on crime as our previous piece. This was

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Speaker 2: more recommendations around how to attract people here, but also

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Speaker 2: ways that the territory government can advocate the federal government

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Speaker 2: on bringing skilled migrants in well.

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Speaker 1: And part of this discussion is how it springs quarantine facility.

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Speaker 2: That's right, So we did call for this to now

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Speaker 2: be used to how skilled migrants moving to the NT

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Speaker 2: because at the moment it is empty. It's sixty seven

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Speaker 2: hectares and it's three thousand, five hundred bedroom so there's

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Speaker 2: rooms ready to go. We know it's ready to go.

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Speaker 2: We've had people in there. There's facilities there, there's food facilities.

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Speaker 2: There's also the gym, there's swimming pool. They've got the access,

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Speaker 2: but then they can actually get in and they can

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Speaker 2: be working straight away, So we can have three five

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Speaker 2: hundred people here immediately working. Like I've been chatting to

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Speaker 2: my members over the last couple of weeks especially, you know,

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Speaker 2: sort of building this piece, and the conversations I'm getting

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Speaker 2: is it's just so hard to find people. We're talking

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Speaker 2: about engineers, you know, going all construction workers. Everyone is

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Speaker 2: fighting for the same people across the country. So it's

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Speaker 2: really difficult to then make the NT the place that

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Speaker 2: they want to come to. So you know, we have

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Speaker 2: the facility here, we have the opportunity right on our

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Speaker 2: doorstep that's ready to go to how three thousand, five

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Speaker 2: hundred people, So it's no brainer for us really, Like

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Speaker 2: it's there and ready. So we may want to look

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Speaker 2: for some permanent work. Why aren't we using that?

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Speaker 1: And so This is something now that the Property Council's

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Speaker 1: actively sort of advocating to the Northern Territory government that

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Speaker 1: you really do think that this Howard Springs quarantine facility

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Speaker 1: needs to be utilized if we're going to build the workforce,

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Speaker 1: this has got to be part of the discussion.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, it's they're ready to go. There's three thousand, five

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Speaker 2: hundred bedrooms, sixty seven hec there. We know it's ready.

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Speaker 2: We've just had people in there going through COVID, so

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Speaker 2: we know it's up to scratch. We know it's ready

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Speaker 2: to go. It can be switched on. You don't even

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Speaker 2: need to have the hotel facilities there. People can go

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Speaker 2: and get their own food or they Yeah, you know

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Speaker 2: it's not going to be a closed up sort of

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Speaker 2: locked in place. It would be almost like a residential village.

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Speaker 2: So why wouldn't we allow people to come and stay

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Speaker 2: there while they seek out more permanent opportunities for housing,

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Speaker 2: or until maybe they're looking to bring their families over.

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Speaker 2: So you know, it provides them with a space first

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Speaker 2: to get in, get working, get accustomed to the territory,

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Speaker 2: get used to where they want to live, get used

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Speaker 2: to where they want to go and just get them

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Speaker 2: in and we've got a workforce. You know, there's the

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Speaker 2: opportunity right there. So that's definitely number one on our

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Speaker 2: list of recommendations that we put forward.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, now I know that there's you know, there's several

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Speaker 1: recommendations and we probably don't have time to go through

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Speaker 1: all of them. But one of them is actually I

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Speaker 1: think this is a really good idea, is introducing a

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Speaker 1: special education migration zone. So, due to national security issues

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Speaker 1: and the importance of the Northern Territory to the economic

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Speaker 1: future of Australia, the Property Council is really advocating for

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory to be made a special education migration zone.

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Speaker 1: What would that mean?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so what that means? So I've worked with Professor

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Speaker 2: Bowman on this one. We've obviously got quite a good

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Speaker 2: relationship with the CDU. We work very closely with them

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Speaker 2: as our corporate partners. And so what this would mean

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Speaker 2: that people studying here in the NT would then be

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Speaker 2: given a six year post study right to stay here.

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Speaker 2: So at the moment when people come and study here,

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Speaker 2: they're not allowed to stay afterwards, so they're out there,

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Speaker 2: they've got to go back home. So basically this would be.

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Speaker 1: So if they come from overseas. If they come from overseas, right.

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Speaker 2: Yes, if this is international education, so this would give

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Speaker 2: them an additional sixty years visa or post study rights

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Speaker 2: to be able to stay here in the territory. So

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Speaker 2: this means that they're given a guaranteed path into permanent

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Speaker 2: residence if they're working in a field that they studied

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Speaker 2: in with the backing of an employee. And I can

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Speaker 2: tell you at the moment, like there's the employees out

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Speaker 2: screaming for people. So I would be very surprised if

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Speaker 2: they weren't going to be getting a backing from someone

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Speaker 2: to try and keep them in the territory for six years. So,

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Speaker 2: you know, we spoke to the to Charles Dale UNI

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Speaker 2: on this and they've done the studies that if the

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Speaker 2: NT was with them zone. So if we did actually

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Speaker 2: have this put in that our migration population would grow

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Speaker 2: between ten and twelve thousand people in five years, which

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Speaker 2: is higher than their predicted growth of international students bourcaps

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Speaker 2: of five thousands. So you know that's quite a big

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Speaker 2: jump just just by some pretty simple tweaks that can

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Speaker 2: be made. But you know that allows us to then

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Speaker 2: have people here who have qualified to have them, say

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Speaker 2: for a further six years. And I was catching up

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Speaker 2: with one of my members this morning and we talked

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Speaker 2: about this exact issue around you know, how do we

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Speaker 2: encourage students who are doing engineering or something at CDSU

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Speaker 2: to then stay in the territory, Like how do you

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Speaker 2: get them into the workforce. And they sort of said

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Speaker 2: to me that they will take them from third year

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Speaker 2: and then work with them through their fourth years. You know,

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Speaker 2: there are those opportunities with the employers that are ready

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Speaker 2: to go. And you know, our recommendations are very they're

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Speaker 2: reasonable recommendations. They're not pie in the sky sort of

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Speaker 2: visionary things. It's very very sort of simple sort of things.

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Speaker 2: Even you know you're looking at reduction of backpack of

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Speaker 2: taxes or move will fringe benefit taxes. A lot of

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Speaker 2: people in the territory or internationally don't know that the

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory is the only jurisdiction that doesn't have a

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Speaker 2: foreign buyer surcharge on properties in the NT. So every

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Speaker 2: other jurisdiction in Australia charges a tax if someone from

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Speaker 2: overseas wants to buy something. We're the only place that

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Speaker 2: doesn't why aren't we selling that message different things that

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Speaker 2: we should be pushing And so our paper is very simple,

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Speaker 2: very easy, and it was so where too?

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Speaker 1: But where to now with this paper? It's obvious that

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Speaker 1: you know that you have done quite a bit of

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Speaker 1: work on it. The Property Council has done quite a

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Speaker 1: bit of work on it. So where to now with

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Speaker 1: this paper? I mean, is it something that you're going

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Speaker 1: to be working with the Northern Territory Government?

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Speaker 2: John, So, what we've done, what our next steps will

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Speaker 2: be is I am off to a Skill Summit workshop

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Speaker 2: next week with the ICA NT so Will I've already

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Speaker 2: sent them this paper, so I'll be taking this paper

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Speaker 2: with me to that workshop and I'll go through those

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Speaker 2: recommendations that will then be used to go forward to

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Speaker 2: the National Skills Summit that the federal government is putting in.

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Speaker 2: And I've obviously spoken to our counterparts across the country,

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Speaker 2: so we've got Property Council officers in every jurisdiction and

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Speaker 2: we're all sort of putting forward a lot of things

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Speaker 2: to that Skills Summit that will then make up quite

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Speaker 2: a larger piece of advocacy going forward. So mind specific

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Speaker 2: to the NC you know, WA will have to wa

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Speaker 2: but all in all we're singing from the same book,

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Speaker 2: so we've quite with you know, a stronger voice is

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Speaker 2: always going to be better for outcomes.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely.

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Speaker 2: I'll be taking this piece next week to a workshop

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Speaker 2: I've been invited to and then from there that that

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Speaker 2: information will then go forward to the Skills Summit, so

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Speaker 2: what they build from that will go we'll go on

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Speaker 2: from there. So well, I have sent this to the

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Speaker 2: Chief Minister, and I have sent this to Minister Kirby

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Speaker 2: and a couple of the cees. So you know, hopefully

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Speaker 2: all we can do is sort of get together and

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Speaker 2: work together. I mean as I go from there.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it is well, Ruth Palmer, we are going to

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Speaker 1: have to leave it there. The Executive Director of course

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Speaker 1: of the Property Council here in the Northern Territory, thanks

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Speaker 1: very much for having a chat with us this morning.