The Northern Territory Road Transport Association (NTRTA) says the Australian Government should fully fund road resilience and flood mitigation in the Northern Territory.
NTRTA president Michael Swart and executive officer Louise Bilato gave evidence before a House of Representatives committee inquiry last month into the implications of severe weather events on the national, regional, rural and remote road network.
Bilato says there needs to be greater Commonwealth support for road resilience and flood mitigation.
“Rather than nit-picking around 80-20 or 50-50 funding, that should be 100 per cent federally funded,” she said.
“As soon as you talk about percentage of what the Northern Territory contribution should be, given that the majority of moneys do come from the wider pool, you’re talking about losses to education or to corrections or to Territory families or to youth or to housing, and that’s a non-negotiable.
“Road infrastructure is critical to everyone’s quality of life. If we are going to be able to reduce the cost of emergency events and emergency management, spending Commonwealth monies wisely, 100 per cent funded is the way to go.”