The Northern Territory: A FUTURE WORTH FIGHTING FOR

BY MAUD MUSSARED AND SIB HARE BREIDAHL
NT Greens Party Managers 

The Northern Territory is riddled with contradictions.

It’s a place where you can drive an unregistered boat without a licence while intoxicated, and where mining companies can access limitless water from the desert for just $3000.

Equally, it was the first jurisdiction to legalise euthanasia, and it is the birthplace of land rights.

There is a strong sense of both community and independence, reflected in both the lifestyle and the political landscape. 

The NT has a strong progressive appetite, demonstrated by the 13% Greens primary vote at the most recent Federal Election, but the local electoral system is stacked against community voices.

The NT Parliament has 25 seats, with each representing just 5000 constituents – and no upper house. Nationally, we have just two MPs – one representing Darwin and the other the remaining expanse of the Territory – and two senators. 

While the NT Greens has had successes on Local Councils, the NT remains the only jurisdiction in Australia never to have had a Green member of State/Territory or Federal parliament.  Division, dysfunction, disagreements and scandals have decimated Territorians' faith in electoral politics. We have a community who sees the political process as irrelevant, and instead bands together to fight issues, unaligned to a party.

We have a Labor government that is desperate to cling on to power and is reaching for short term solutions and cheap, quick wins.

The NT government is selling a dream of a $40 billion dollar economy powered by fracking, petrochemicals, military expansion, and foolhardy agricultural schemes. The reality is that the NT government is prepared to sacrifice the NT to save itself. 

Our future in the NT, on its current trajectory under NT Labor, is centred on 5 terrifying realities:

1. A gas and petrochemical wasteland

Our future centres around the Middle Arm Gas and Petrochemical hub, which has been called “the biggest project in the NT since colonisation” (Kirsty Howey, Environment Centre NT). It is also attracting $1.5 billion in federal subsidies. It will process gas fracked in the Beetaloo Basin, a project that is opposed by Traditional Owners, and is slated to increase Australia’s emissions by 22%.

Middle Arm is a case study in greenwashing and deception. The NT Government has erased all mentions of gas & petrochemicals from the project’s website while freedom of Information documents show that the entire business case for Middle Arm is predicated on gas export. It will also include a petrochemical hub within 3km of the satellite city of Palmerston.

Similar projects overseas have resulted in so-called “cancer alleys” and meta analysis show a 30% increase in blood cancers for people living within 5km of these projects. On a recent visit, The UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights, Marcos Orellana remarked that the NT was being used as a “sacrifice zone”. The NT Labor government heralds this economic boon, but modelling by the Australia Institute shows negligible economic benefits.

2. Reckless water splashing and giveaways in the desert

The Government continues to duck, weave and mislead Territorians in the desert too.

NT Labor has approved the biggest water licence in the NT’s history to a private company for an export-based agriculture project – Singleton Station. Meanwhile 63 of 73 remote communities in the NT remain without drinking water that meets the minimum safety standard. We have the worst water laws in the country.

3. Where there’s gas, there’s fire. And there’s Buffel Grass

Currently, a fire thirteen times the size of the ACT ravages the Barkly region around Tennant Creek. This fire has decimated the Country, and the biodiversity of this region. It is a symbol of what is to come, given the summer hasn’t officially started. Huge fires also rage around Mparntwe/Alice Springs, making the air unbreathable.

And the main fuel of these fires? The invasive Buffel weed. A weed that has spread across the desert for decades after being used by pastoralists as fodder, creating a monoculture where there was once native flora.

Buffel grass has been declared a weed over the border in SA, but not in the NT because pastoralists and their deep pockets have successfully lobbied the NT government. This devastating weed continues to be planted.

4. Rapid militarisation of the NT

The rapid military expansion of the NT is no secret. We are on the receiving end of $2 billion of US investment for base upgrades and new facilities.

In Darwin, that includes a mission planning and operations centre and 11 jet fuel storage tanks. A couple of hours South, storage hangers for nuclear-capable bomber planes and a huge ammunition bunker will be built. We have become a military hub, a potential target and collateral in the militarisation of this region.

5. Deteriorating social and cultural outlook, met with punitive justice measures.

With the highest rates of homelessness and domestic violence in Australia, the tapestry of society feels unsteady at times in the NT. Instead of investing in building more public housing and expanding restorative and community-led programs, the Labor government’s policy responses feel like knee jerk reactions.

Our bail laws and mandatory minimum sentencing disproportionately impact First Nations Territorians, spending $47 million yearly to lock up (overwhelmingly) Aboriginal children in Don Dale Youth Detention Centre.

Our government seeks to hide the problem rather than address it, and has spent millions of dollars on private security guards to unlawfully move on those sleeping rough in Darwin.

This disaster basket of policies in the NT paints a bleak picture for our future. But there is hope. The community has taken up these fights across the NT, and the NT Greens have become the political arm of a strong activist wing. 

We can finally see a road into Parliament at the NT election in August 2024, and have a chance to provide a progressive political voice in the NT. How can you help?

1. Join our Friends of the NT mailing list by contacting office@nt.greens.org.au
2. Make a donation to the NT Greens
3. Encourage your state councillor to support future motions helping the NT with fundraising and ongoing interstate support. We don't have electoral reimbursement in the NT, so we need your help!