Mr SNOWDON (10:18 AM) —John Howard and Peter Costello told us that the GST would improve the economy—

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Nehl)—The Prime Minister and the Treasurer.

Mr SNOWDON —Yes, Mr Deputy Speaker. They told us it would boost the economy, lift the Australian dollar and promote investment. Every single one of these claims has now been proved false. The economy is slowing, the dollar is down, full-time jobs are falling, investment is falling, profits are being squeezed and business confidence is sliding. Even in the electorate of the previous speaker, the member for Moreton, small business is suffering.

Unemployment in the Northern Territory has risen by about 40 per cent in rough terms, year on year. The Northern Territory building industry has been one of the hardest hit in the nation by this economic downturn that this government has created. The national downturn in new finance commitments in 2000 was 3.3 per cent. In the Northern Territory, it was 19.1 per cent. Residential construction commencements for 1999-2000 in the Northern Territory were down by 22.8 per cent. Residential approvals for February were down 74 per cent on last year's figures—the lowest on record.

This has led, not surprisingly, to the collapse and withdrawal of large building companies within the Territory, leaving many subcontractors and workers out of a job and even unpaid. The Territory is losing a mass of skilled workers and businesses. I will name a few: Bayview Homes, Hansen and Yuncken, Di Mella—gone. The Di Mella Homes collapse has left workers out of pocket by $250,000. I quote from a Northern Territory News article yesterday. You might note the heading: `Families hit as builders crash'. The article says:

I concur absolutely with the views of Mr Gallagher. One of these workers was a subcontractor, a single mother of two who has not been paid for $15,000 worth of landscaping. An electrical contractor has been left out of pocket by $30,000. These are Territory small businesses, suffering as a result of the mismanagement of the Northern Territory economy by the Northern Territory government. This, of course, is on Northern Territory government contracts. The Department of Transport and Works in the Northern Territory is obliged to ensure the fair distribution of contract payment. Subcontractors have made purchases of credit, believing that a government contract is safe. No longer in the Northern Territory is a government contract safe. It is the government's responsibility to ensure the financial stability of the companies it awards contracts to. There is no reason why the subcontractors working for Di Mella should be left out of pocket as they have been. Hansen and Yuncken have operated in the Territory for 30 years. Two years ago, their turnover was over $30 million. This year, it will be around $11 million. These are the worst economic conditions this company has seen or experienced in the Northern Territory. They will be offering redundancies, staff transfers out of the Territory, and the end of relationships with subcontractors.

The fault lies with the government. The aggressive nature of the GST has hit Territorians the hardest. It is simple maths. If you add 10 per cent to the highest price in the country, you pay more tax; and every Territorian knows that when they put their hand in their pocket to make a purchase to participate in building activity they are giving this government, the Treasurer and the Prime Minister—Mr Howard and Mr Costello—more money than they would be giving them if they were living in Sydney or Melbourne. The major accomplice in this, the Treasurer's and the Prime Minister's major assistant in this exercise, has been the Northern Territory Chief Minister, Dennis Burke, who has said that he believes that the GST is good for the Territory. No-one in their right mind believes Dennis Burke. No-one in their right mind believes that the GST is good for the Northern Territory. And everyone knows that not only has the GST mugged the Northern Territory economy, as has been stated by the shadow treasurer Mr Crean, but it has in fact king-hit it.