Green Jobs: Recharging the Territory

Jobs, skills, lower bills


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 harbour with planned and unplanned discharge. 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.


Our Recharging the Territory Report 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 East Arm and the Port of Darwin as a sustainable industrial precinct
  • 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
  • Subsidise TAFE training and electrical degrees for local students
  • Provide solar, insulation, and air conditioning upgrades for every single public housing dwelling
  • Fund climate safe upgrades for every low-income household
  • 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.
  • 7622 good-quality, sustainable jobs for local workers


Resources:

Recharging the Territory Report


Authorised by K. Howey, Environment Centre NT, 3/98 Woods Street, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.