Jobs, skills, lower bills.
Recharging the Territory proposes an alternative economic vision for the NT that tackles the cost-of-living crisis, while creating energy security and thousands of sustainable, future-ready jobs. This could transform the lives of so many people in the Northern Territory. Recharging the Territory will kick off the renewables revolution and allow us to make large scale solar a reality. This package lowers power bills and gives breathing space for families who are doing it tough. Recharging the Territory gets workers ready for the renewable energy industry and creates thousands of sustainable, local jobs.
Click here to read the report.
We have a choice. It’s time for the NT to join the renewables revolution.
The Federal Government’s $1.5 billion dollar program to convert the Middle Arm peninsula into a major gas and petrochemical export hub will transfer public money into the hands of offshore gas companies with little benefit for Territorians, or for a competitive, clean economy future.
Funding this development will come at a significant cost to residents. It will impact our iconic harbour by dredging, building five product jetties, increasing shipping traffic and contaminating our marine environments. It will also impact our health by increasing air pollution, which NT doctors say will increase the cancer risk in children in Darwin and Palmerston. It will destroy any chance we have of securing a safe climate for future generations as it unlocks major gas projects across the Territory, dramatically increasing Australia’s national emissions. Finally, it does not stack up economically, with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analytics finding that the business model is flawed and relies on unproven assumptions. The cost of this will fall on Australian taxpayers.
There is a better way.
This report shows that redeploying the Federal Government’s $1.5 billion dollar commitment into a Recharging the Territory Package would deliver more high-quality jobs for locals, directly tackle the NT’s cost-of-living crisis and provide the foundations for a strong and diverse new industry sector. We can invest in energy and skills to fix the NT’s unstable electricity system and provide energy security for households. We can deliver energy upgrades for every low income and public housing dwelling in the NT, which will give families economic relief in a cost-of-living crisis. Finally, we can expedite strategic industrial land development at East Arm or return the Port of Darwin to public ownership.
In the NT, we have a choice to transform the lives of Territorians; it’s time to recharge the Territory.
What are the key proposals of the report?
Investing $1.5b on a Recharging the Territory package would:
- Establish a four-campus Northern Australia Renewable Energy Training Centre of Excellence
- Construct a Darwin Big Battery and fix systemic grid stability issues
- Expand the deployment of microgrids throughout the NT
- Deliver subsidized, future-ready TAFE training and electrical degrees to local students
- Provide solar, insulation, and air conditioning upgrades for every single public housing dwelling
- Fund climate-safe upgrades for every low-income household
- Establish East Arm and the Port of Darwin as a sustainable industrial precinct
- Deploy solar on twice as many household rooftops and catch up to neighbouring states
- Build hundreds of new homes and household expansions in remote areas
- Provide over 7000 good-quality, sustainable jobs for local workers.
