A tent pole for the Territory

The role of natural gas in the Northern Territory isn’t just generating cleaner power to keep the lights on. Be they apprentices or long-time staff behind desks or on the tools, the gas industry is a tent pole for employment and economic activity in the Territory.

From domestic gas fitters in Alice Springs to boilermakers in Darwin or engineers on site in the Beetaloo, a whopping 11.4 out of every 100 jobs in the Territory is supported by the natural gas industry supply chain.

In fact, the NT has the highest concentration of natural gas workers in Australia.

With over 11,000 jobs directly employed by more than 3100 businesses, Territorians working directly for or in support of the gas industry took home a tidy $993 million in the last financial year.

PICTURED: Manager Derick Yates is of one of 100 employees of Darwin’s Rusca Bros; An indigenous owned civil construction and waste management company which has already worked on sites in the Beetaloo basin.

The natural gas supply chain contributed $1.8 billion to the NT economy in the last financial year and coughed up $1.2 billion in taxes, rates, fees and royalties.

These figures are according to a study released by Australian Gas Industry Trust (AGIT), Economic and Employment Contribution of the Australian Gas Industry Supply Chain: 2020-21, prepared by Australian Economic Advocacy Solutions.

Nationally, the industry is linked to three cents of every dollar of economic activity. One in every 54 Aussie workers are employed the natural gas industry. 165,000 of them are employed directly, working full time. 95,000 are indirectly working supporting for the gas industry.55 bn direct economic activity, 18.2 bn in tax, rates, fees and royalties.

Keen to read the report yourself? Steady yourself for an acronym heavy deep dive and click here.

Read more about the report and the natural gas industry’s contribution to regional economies at this link.