JOLENE LAVERTY, HOST: The Federal Budget will be delivered this coming Tuesday. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has already given some hints and started to try and shape our expectations about what might be in the budget papers and has warned that he will put economics before politics. “

TREASURER JIM CHALMERS – AUDIO: “It will be focused on responsible cost-of-living relief, targeted investments in a stronger and more resilient economy, and starting to unwind the legacy of waste and rorts in the budget. It won't be flashy, it won't be fancy.”

LAVERTY: There you go. Not flashy and not fancy. So is it very much in it for the Northern Territory? Luke Gosling is the Member for Solomon and good morning. So a federal Labor budget to be announced in less than a week from now. What can Territorians expect?

LUKE GOSLING, MEMBER FOR SOLOMON: Morning Jo and Adam. As Territorians would have seen during the week, the biggest – outside of Victoria – infrastructure investment is in the Northern Territory at $2.5 billion with a B. Victoria is the only jurisdiction in the country with more at $2.57 billion in infrastructure funding and that's going to be vital to our economy and our development into the future. This is—yeah, it's massive. Business would know that there's global headwinds. Inflation is on the march. People will be feeling that the cost of living is going up. So there will be a number of measures in the budget to help with that. But this infrastructure spend is massive because it doesn't matter whether you're in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, or here in Darwin, the Greater Darwin region. The infrastructure funding will mean jobs for Territorians and it will mean that our industry and our economy can thrive.

LAVERTY: So it is, jobs are great, but at the end of the day you're going to be left with all this infrastructure. What is the infrastructure going to do?

GOSLING: Well, in terms of the logistic hubs up the track, they're basically there to facilitate industry moving their goods to market and facilitate the government doing their role in helping the regions to develop. We all want to see jobs, not just in Darwin and Palmerston but throughout the Territory. And the way that that happens is if you've got an infrastructure framework on which to develop industry, whether it be tourism or mining, or we've got the massive Sun Cable project, as people would be aware, or agriculture, horticulture. So those hubs are really important, but the roads funding is massive, the Tanami and other roads. And then of course the Middle Arm funding, which is going to unlock a lot of jobs for Territorians, particularly in Darwin and Palmerston. And I'm really looking forward to that rolling out so that we can make this renewables thing a reality. So I'm talking about hydrogen, geothermal power production and it's very exciting.

LAVERTY: So again, the jobs are great, but the infrastructure itself, do you know that it's going to be used at the end of the day, all of these billions of dollars is actually going to be put to good use? You've got interest from industry saying, “yes, this is something that we need”?

GOSLING: Yeah, of course.

LAVERTY: Does it include a new port? There was a lot of conversation around the new port and what exactly that was and what it wasn't toward the end of the federal election last time. So what about the new port?

GOSLING: Well, what's happening with the current port is still under consideration by our government. There was a commitment that we took to the election, and Barnaby Joyce at the time I think was deputy PM, sort of said, “Oh, we're going to have a new port at Middle Arm”. The government doesn't characterize it that way as a replacement port, but it is a facility where goods can be loaded on and off for the development of the Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct. I have said on the record a number of times that I think with this amount of funding there needs to be consultation with Defence about how they can also utilise it. Because it's multi-user facility, and Defence is an important user of all of our infrastructure up here in the north for obvious reasons.

LAVERTY: And you haven't had that conversation with Defence yet? Before you invest billions of dollars in this new space?

GOSLING: That is something that's happening at the federal level. I'm just indicating that not long after the election, that is the sort of work we're getting about as a Federal Government. So whilst this enabling infrastructure is for a precinct, when there is a spend of that nature, obviously we are duty-bound to make sure that we can get the best possible use out of it for a whole range of uses.

LAVERTY: Is it perhaps putting the cart before the horse to promise or deliver in the budget billions of dollars in infrastructure spending when you are still currently or yet to have conversations with key stakeholders like Defence?

GOSLING: As I said, those conversations are happening. It's more that those conversations need to be understood and acted on at the Northern Territory Government level as well. And I know that that's happening. It hadn't happened previously, I guess is my point, Jo. We've had nine, ten years of a Coalition government and a $2.5 billion commitment as it was from them. But conversations hadn't happened with Defence.

LAVERTY: Sure. And in the—how many days have you been in office? 80-something, I think is slightly more than 80.

GOSLING: Yeah, I’m not counting.

LAVERTY: And there's more money being put towards this development at Middle Arm, even more money than what was being promised by the Coalition. Those conversations are still happening? They’re active, live conversations rather than, “Yes, we know that this is what people want. We have had this conversation. It is signed, sealed and delivered. This is what they're going to use”. You haven't actually concluded those conversations with—?

GOSLING: Yeah, well, maybe you can get one of the ministers on board to talk about what’s within their area to talk about. I'm just trying to say—

LAVERTY: Lots of money for something that hopefully will be used.

GOSLING: Yeah, of course it's going to be used, Jo.

ADAM STEER, HOST: You're on ABC Radio Darwin, Adam Steer and Jo Laverty with you. Luke Gosling is the Member for Solomon. So is it a petrochemical plant that's being planned for there? That's what the environmentalist are concerned about. They've been raising concerns in the last 24 hours about it.

GOSLING: It has been a lot longer than that that they've been raising concerns about it, Adam. I don’t know whether you've had them in to talk about it. But there was a report by a fellow called Petroni, who raised some concerns about petrochemical facilities. So yeah, I’ve asked the Northern Territory Government to give me a brief on that. But that's only one of the user groups. And as I understand it, there's no current proponent of a petrochemical plant for Middle Arm. It has been talked about a lot as one of a range of uses, but I'm really excited about the ability for us to get our critical minerals to market, the ability for Sun Cable to be utilising that facility. I met with geothermal proponents yesterday and you should have a chat with some of them. It's pretty exciting stuff. And producing green hydrogen, which is in massive need around the world and there's massive markets for us to reach. But at the end of the day, this infrastructure enables a range of industries that are going to allow us to transition our economies to renewable energy, and there's going to be jobs for Territorians and jobs are really important. That's how we're going to grow the Territory.

STEER: Okay, well, we'll wait for further reports there. Let's move on. Yesterday we heard from Louise Bilato from the Northern Territory Road Transport Association. Here's what she had to say about the rising freight costs.

LOUISE BILATO, NT ROAD TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION – AUDIO: “The cost of diesel, which is today $2.28 at the terminal gate, which will mean it’s $2.45 plus at most of these service stations, is really impacting the bottom line.”

STEER: As we've been hearing in the last week or so, the crops have been wiped out in floods, particularly around that Riverina area and in north-east Victoria. The cost of freight is up, diesel prices are going through the roof there. What cost of living relief will the federal budget bring, as far as you're aware?

GOSLING: For Territory families, there's going to be quite a few measures that are in this budget that are going to help them with their family budget bottom lines, and that's things like extending paid parental leave by six weeks to a full six months. That's going to help families that are growing. The other thing that's going to help families that are growing is on the 1st of July next year, everyone will be getting more support for their childcare costs. And we know that both of those things increase productivity. So they're important measures, but there's a number of others as well as some that will be that have already been announced, but also some that will be announced in the budget. We are facing a situation where we've inherited $1 billion – ah sorry, $1 trillion debt from the former government. And with increasing interest rates, it's costing our budget a lot more to pay back the interest on that huge debt racked up by the Coalition – and most of it before COVID, even though they like to use that COVID spend as an excuse. But at the end of the day, we need to be responsible in this budget. And I know that Jim Chalmers will do that. But with that massive infrastructure spend on the Territory, it's a massive show of confidence in the Territory in Australia's future, not just a show of confidence in the Territory. It's the Territory's role in the nation and that's really good for us, because we need to develop the Territory. And not just Darwin and Palmerston, but the whole Territory.

LAVERTY: You’re on ABC Radio Darwin, this is the Member for Solomon, Luke Gosling. You're with Adam Steer and Jo Laverty. And something that Territorians are crying out for, and I know you've heard this cry yourself, Luke Gosling, is more help to get people to come and work up here. Live and work up here for the jobs that we do have which aren’t being filled. So there was a Top End bar worker, Labib, and his issue was that he had been working here for years. He was well known and loved by his colleagues and his boss. But his visa was coming to an end, and he faced having to go home, when really we need him here. And he wanted to stay here, as well. The reports were that you intervened somewhat and were able to have that visa extended. Is that the case?

GOSLING: Yeah. Look, it's great that Labib’s—and, you know, I'm not going to share all his personal details on radio with you, Jo, but—

LAVERTY: Nor would we ask you to, just asking about your involvement in it.

GOSLING: Obviously I've been involved and I'm the federal member that represents the businesses that are asking for him to stay. I was also at the memorial service when some of his friends that died in a car accident were laid— well, we had a memorial service before they were returned home. So he's had a particularly difficult time and there are compassionate circumstances for him, that mean that I’ve gone in to bat quite strongly for him. I was wondering, Jo, when you asked your listeners yesterday about whether any other Aussie kids out there that may want to do that catering or chef’s apprenticeship?

LAVERTY: Work as a chef.

GOSLING: Yeah, I mean, the fact that no one rang in doesn't mean there's not kids out there that want to. But I guess if I sum up— we want, and Brendan O'Connor will be up here soon, and hopefully you can have a yarn with him as Jobs and Training, Skills Minister. But the focus for us is we have low unemployment, but we want to make sure every Territory kid has got a job. But also we know that that's not going to be enough to satisfy the workforce requirement that industry has, hospitality being one of those. So I’m working closely with Hospitality NT and a number of business owners in town to see what we can do. In Canberra, in the department, we've employed a whole lot more people because we were left with about a million visa applications unprocessed, and that has meant that industry haven't got the employees that they need and that's unfortunate, but we can't fix that in 80=whatever days that you've said we've been in government, Jo. So we are working on that. I've got a particular job this week in Canberra, not only with the Budget, but also to follow up on Labib’s case, and with a supportive business that he works for, then we should be able to reach a good solution there for him.

LAVERTY: One of the criticisms was “yes, we know that the Federal Government has put on extra staff to try and get through these million or more claims for visa applications, trying to get through them”. And there was a criticism made that perhaps it's being just done too quickly because people are being knocked back. People are being asked to prove, for example, that they have a job to go back to in four years. I spoke to Rob earlier in the week.

CALLER – ROB – AUDIO: “I've got my wife's cousin we've put up the money for to bring to Australia. She's decided that she wanted to become a chef. The best way to learn to become a chef is not—obviously she's from the Philippines, but here in Australia. And what's happened with ours is this process, the visa. And it seems that they're knocking back visa people because they're trying to clear their backlog and they're just saying, “there's no evidence that you'll be returning home after you finish your apprenticeship, slash your finishing schooling”. Now they're saying “if you can get a letter from an employer back in the Philippines stating that you have a full-time job to go back to in four years, you to get your visa.” I can't tell you where I'm going to be in four years’ time. I can't tell you where you're going to be in four years’ time. And I don't think any of us in today's society can say where we're going to be living, working and breathing in four years’ time.”

LAVERTY: What do you say to that, that suggestion that maybe you're just going too quickly to clear the backlog?

GOSLING: We have rules around visas for very good reasons. And I think what we're finding, it doesn't matter whether it's the Department of Veterans Affairs or any other department, when you cut public servants, then the public suffers because there aren't the people to do the work that the public expect of the government. So we not only have lifted the staffing cap for the Department of Veterans Affairs, so we get more people in there to clear the claims of veterans. We're getting more people into Home Affairs and the Department of Immigration to clear the visa applications. And there's got to be good reasons, there's got to be a focus on Australian workers first, and that's appropriate. And then in the meantime, we're going to do our best to—and I've got the Minister coming up to make sure that we're hearing all the feedback from the industry so that we can help.

LAVERTY: We would love to talk to the Jobs Minister when they're in town. If you could help us hook that up, that'd be great.

GOSLING: Yeah, no worries.

LAVERTY: Okay, thanks. That is Luke Gosling, Member for Solomon on ABC Radio Darwin with Adam Steer and Jo Laverty. Thanks for your time, Mr. Gosling.