Crime, community safety and education have been targeted in the Northern Territory Labor government's pre-election budget.
Chief Minister and Treasurer Eva Lawler has forecast a deficit of $410 million for 2024/25, but surpluses across the forward estimates, rising to $231 million by 2027/28.
Ms Lawler says the financial blueprint is a commonsense budget "that is all about lowering crime, improving community safety and getting Territorians working".
"This is not a glamorous budget," she said in her speech to parliament on Tuesday.
The chief minister said the budget's measures, two months out from the Territory's election, include $1.2 billion for public order and safety and $723 million to "build safer, fairer and more resilient communities".
There's an extra $570 million for the NT Police Force over the next five years, which will put 200 more officers on the beat, upgrade operational infrastructure and employ 71 extra support staff.
"This is the largest-ever boost in funding for the NT Police Force in the Territory’s history," Ms Lawler said.
The measure includes $70 million "to reduce the scourge of domestic, family and sexual violence" and $170 million to pay for the growing prisoner population, build two temporary prisons, upgrade the Alice Springs Correctional Centre and establish a specialist domestic violence offenders custody facility.
More than $44 million has been earmarked for residential youth justice facilities at Darwin, Katherine, Alice Springs and Tennant Creek.
The funding will provide for live‑in facilities to ensure court sentences and orders are enforced, while offenders are provided training and education services.
"We will ensure that kids who commit crimes answer for their actions – and that they complete training while in custody so they can turn their lives around," Ms Lawler said.
Growing crime rates and anti-social behaviour have been major issues in Territory communities for some time but the issue drew national attention early in 2024 with a series of wild brawls in Alice Springs.
The budget includes a $1.34 billion education services package with extra cash to improve skills and learning in schools, funding for apprenticeships and traineeships and money to upgrade classrooms.
The government has allocated $2.2 billion for health services, including $12 million for new medical facilities to ease pressure on the Territory's hospitals and provide more aged-care beds.
The health operating budget has been boosted by $200 million in 2023/24 and $100 million in 2024/25, with $20 million to build a new primary-care health centre in the regional town of Borroloola.
Infrastructure gets $2.58 billion in 2024/25 to fund major projects including remote housing and upgrades to the Territory’s road network
The budget forecasts net debt to grow to $11 billion in 2024/25, increasing to $12.33 billion by 2027/28.
NT economic growth is expected to be 2.3 per cent in the year ahead before accelerating to 7.1 per cent in 2025/26 as LNG exports from the Barossa project commence.
The Opposition said the rising cost of living and "skyrocketing" crime rate was crippling families and businesses and the budget had done nothing to help.
The Northern Territory Police Association said $70 million of the $90 million boost to the police budget in 2024-25 would be used to cover overspending in the current financial year.
President Nathan Finn said it wasn't surprising given the extra resources sent to Alice Springs, the ongoing violence in the West Daly Region and the significant overtime NT police were working.
The peak body for the community sector, the NT Council of Social Services, said it was disappointed that the only solution offered in the budget for tackling community safety was more police and prisons.
NORTHERN TERRITORY BUDGET FOR 2024/25
* Deficit: $410 million
* Revenue: $8.76 billion
* Expenditure: $11.12 billion
* Net debt: $11.05 billion
* Unemployment: 4.6 per cent
* Economic growth: 2.3 per cent
