Business and Jobs Minister Paul Kirby could not say what the Territory economy was worth on a radio show, and guessed the government’s expenditure incorrectly by more than a billion dollars, when asked how the government was going to reach its “target” of a $40 billion economy in the face of major projects collapsing.

Mr Kirby said that despite the proposed $1.5 billion Project Sea Dragon prawn farm project going into administration this week, the government would continue to be “audacious” in providing money for major projects.

Mr Kirby, who is also the Agriculture and Fisheries Minister and is a former Resources Minister, was on Mix 104.9’s The Week that Was program Friday morning when talk turned to the failed prawn project, and the $56 million the government had spent on the project, including on the road between Kununurra and Legune Station which has been called “the road to nowhere”.

Mr Kirby was then asked about how the government would get to a $40 billion economy by its target date seven years away, and was further asked to explain the current size of the economy.

“I know that budget only runs at about seven or eight billion at the moment, but as for overall economic value of the Territory, I haven’t got those figures,” he said.

According to NT Treasury and Finance figures which are on its website, in 2021-22, the Territory economy increased by 4.7 per cent to $26.1 billion, after a decrease of 1.4 per cent in 2020-21.

The 2022-23 Budget papers show the total Territory expenditure including net capital investment was $9.27 billion, about 70 per cent of which was to come through GST payments, much more than Mr Kirby thought.

The Territory Government has run a campaign publicly promoting its aim to achieve a $40 billion economy by 2030.

Radio host Katie Woolf did not acknowledge that the Business Minister did not know what the size of the economy was, and did not ask any follow-up questions, or seem to realise he misrepresented the Territory’s expenditure so badly as well.

The NT Independent asked Chief Minister Natasha Fyles if she would take any action against Mr Kirby and if she still felt he was fit to be a minister and if he needed to undertake economic and finance training. She did not respond.

CLP spokesman for mining and Industry Steve Edgington said Mr Kirby’s lack of knowledge about the Territory’s economy was concerning.

“The $40 billion economy by 2030 is a pretty big promise from the Labor Party, so it’s very concerning to see one of their ministers not knowing the current size of the economy, the government’s budget and how much they’ve even spent,” Mr Edgington said.

An ‘audacious’ approach to spending taxpayer money

Mr Kirby continued on the program that the Fyles Government would “continue to make audacious asks, and put the projects on the table for the Northern Territory because that’s what we have to do will continue to support industries”.

“Yes, these big projects do have blips on the radar, but I’ll remind people Inpex was the biggest gas project ever to take place in the southern hemisphere. Like, we can do these big projects,” he said.

The word audacious has several meanings, including “showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks”, “showing an unusual willingness to take risks”, as well as “intrepidly daring”, “recklessly bold or daring” and “rash”, “highly inventive”, or “impudent or presumptuous”, “marked by originality and verve”, and “contemptuous of law, religion, or decorum”.

In late January, the latest data from Deloitte Access Economics revealed the Northern Territory’s economy will drop by 4.1 per cent this year and will only grow by a meagre 0.3 per cent next financial year as inflation increases by 6.9 per cent, casting more doubt on the Fyles Government’s $40 billion economy by the end of the decade.

In mid-January Sun Cable, the company behind the proposed $30 billion undersea intercontinental renewable power system that would connect Darwin to Singapore, announced it had fallen into administration. It appointed FTI Consulting to head up the voluntary administration process to either recapitalise the company or sell it to new owners.

At the beginning of December, Western Australian builder Clough announced it has been placed into voluntary administration. The company was a joint-venture partner with BMD in building the proposed $515 million ship lift in Darwin. In early January, it was announced Italian construction giant Webuild would be taking over Clough.

In September, Origin Energy at a multi-million dollar loss, sold its gas exploration interests in the Beetaloo Basin to focus on clean energy.

While a few days later the Federal Court overturned an approval for a major offshore project spearheaded by Santos after a challenge by traditional owners. It has meant a stop of the $4.7 billion project that the ABC reported the company had previously described as the biggest investment in Australia’s oil and gas industry in almost a decade.

Over the five years to 2027, the Territory’s annual economy is only expected to grow at an average rate of 1.1 per cent – the weakest growth of all states that range from 1.9 per cent in South Australia to 2.7 per cent in the ACT, according to Deloitte.