This DMBG opinion piece was published in the NT News on 12 January 2026.
Strip away the labels and the Darwin Major Business Group (DMBG) exists for one reason: economic growth in the Northern Territory.
The DMBG was established in 2017, at a time when the Territory was confronting familiar challenges: weak private investment, stagnant population growth, rising costs of doing business, and a persistent gap between economic ambition and delivery.
Its formation reflected a view shared by senior business leaders that the Territory needed a small, disciplined, business-led forum focused squarely on economic growth; not politics, not ideology, and not daily commentary.
DMBG exists to advocate for policies and decisions that support sustainable economic growth in the Territory. Growth that creates jobs, attracts investment, improves productivity and strengthens the Territory’s long-term financial position, the fundamentals. That growth is expected to occur within the community’s normal standards for environmental responsibility and social progress, because long-term economic success depends on both.
The Group is deliberately small. Membership is by invitation, with an expectation that members contribute time, experience and strategic insight. Members include locally headquartered companies and national firms with a substantial, long-term operating presence in the Territory. The common thread is commitment to the NT economy, not corporate scale. That distinction matters.
The Northern Territory has always relied on external capital. From pastoral expansion, to mining, to defence and major infrastructure, the Territory’s economic progress has depended on investment decisions made well beyond our borders. The question has never been whether outside capital should be involved. The real question is whether the Territory positions itself well enough to attract it, retain it, and convert it into lasting benefit for all Territorians.
That task is made harder by the gap between national rhetoric and national action. There is constant talk about the strategic importance of Northern Australia and the Northern Territory in particular. What is missing is Commonwealth funding and policy settings that reflect that rhetoric. Strategy papers do not build roads, deliver housing, reduce freight costs or unlock private investment.
The same pattern applies to structural reform. Proposals such as special tax or investment zones for Northern Australia surface regularly, are acknowledged as sensible responses to higher costs, and then quietly shelved. If the Northern Territory is genuinely regarded as nationally strategic, it should not be expected to compete on the same settings as lower-cost, better-serviced jurisdictions.
That is where the DMBG focuses its effort. The Group does not campaign on day-to-day political issues. It does not exist to generate headlines. Much of its work happens quietly: economic analysis, policy submissions, briefings with government, and direct engagement with decision-makers, often before an issue reaches public debate.
Since its establishment, the Group has consistently focused on core economic enablers: infrastructure investment, efficient and predictable regulation, competitive freight and logistics, workforce availability, energy security and policy stability. These issues rarely attract applause, but they determine whether projects proceed, stall or walk away.
The DMBG does not claim to speak for all business, nor does it try to. Its purpose is simpler, and harder: to speak plainly about economic challenges and consequences, even when that message is uncomfortable.
Talking up the Territory is easy; funding it, reforming it and backing it properly is harder and that is the gap that still needs closing.