Stuart Highway funding promised in federal budget pending NT’s contribution

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The federal budget papers revealed little in the way of new funding commitments for projects in the Northern Territory. The biggest item a 200-million-dollar investment for upgrades to the Stuart Highway - but there's a catch.

Transcript

00:00When the supermarket shelves look like this in Darwin, it's a sure sign the Stuart Highway

00:09is out of action.

00:11For feeding Darwin, there's no plan B.

00:13Living costs go up and like we've seen in many floods, the shelves at Coles and Woolworths

00:20are empty.

00:21Last night's federal budget offered few big ticket items for the territory, but one detail

00:27stood out, $200 million to duplicate the Stuart Highway between Darwin and Catherine.

00:34We think it's a welcome announcement, but the Northern Territory Government have claimed

00:39that the funding is conditional.

00:41The project's funding hinges on the NT Government's willingness to chip in 20%.

00:47So that means $40 million that the Territory Government is going to have to fund if we

00:50want to commit to this project.

00:52The Treasurer indicating the project could be years away.

00:56We're formulating our budget and it's too late in the cycle for the Territory Government

01:00to commit to an additional $40 million.

01:03Road safety advocates say upgrades to NT roads can't afford to wait.

01:08The Stuart Highway is our most travelled road and it's the subject of a lot of car crashes

01:14and a lot of road trauma.

01:15We're getting more and more traffic on the road, which means more and more people are

01:20trying to overtake road trains.

01:22If the Stuart Highway is ever closed, then our defence impacts are very significantly

01:28felt as well.

01:30Roads funding aside, the federal budget didn't deliver much else in the way of new projects

01:35for the Northern Territory.

01:37Previously announced items for the NT include an extra $51 million for public hospitals

01:43and $842 million across six years for remote Aboriginal investment.

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