Advocating for change needs a systems approach to pair economic development with social infrastructure investment to show how holistically, the sum of the parts is important to developing the North.

With the benefits of Developing the North well known to most, we’ve also become pretty well versed in reciting the Territory Government’s (NTG) ambitious growth targets of a sustainable and diverse $40 billion economy by 2030. We are gradually seeing evidence that the Territory has emerged as a key strategic location and nexus for many global ambitions, with an investment portfolio that has grown from more than $30 billion in 2022 to $53 billion in 2023.

So with strategies well underway to get the right infrastructure in the right place at the right time in the areas of transport, logistics, utilities, and water supply, where does social infrastructure sit in within the enabling infrastructure ecosystems and how is Government’s responding in partnership with industry? This presentation takes a slice of the social infrastructure pie to illuminate how building a new iconic art gallery in the CBD can create ripples of change for positive liveability, while an ambitious housing program, underpinned by various systemic reforms underway, provides the bookends to make the $40 billion economy stand up.