UPDATE: The Victoria Hwy remains closed while the Adelaide-Darwin railway line has also been damaged about 50km north of Tennant Creek from floodwaters as the government opened the Stuart Highway temporarily on Monday to allow up to 50 road trains full of fresh produce and other supplies up to Darwin supermarkets.
Three people have been hospitalised amid ongoing unrest in Wadeye over the weekend, which has reportedly seen up to 300 people fighting in the community with homemade weapons and vehicles, NT Police said.
Today’s national news includes Australia securing new gas deals for east coast energy markets, a ‘golden visa’ arrangement for wealthy investors axed, a severe cyclone to hit Queensland on Thursday, and Turkish Airlines to launch flights to Australia this March.
A massive expansion of the Territory’s gas industry in the Beetaloo Basin and at the proposed Middle Arm industrial precinct could emit more than a billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over the next 25 years, casting doubts on the NT Labor Government’s pledge to achieve its net zero emissions target by 2050, climate experts have said.
Police had to shoot crocodiles to allow them to recover a ute with a man’s body inside from a creek at Dundee Downs on Friday afternoon, after the vehicle crashed into the water near a boat ramp on Thursday afternoon, NT Police said.
Today’s national news includes the PM taking emergency steps to address the spiralling cost of living crisis, Foreign Minister Wong telling China to release an Australian journalist, and the IMF wants the Reserve Bank to hike rates further. Also in the news are youth prison reforms being called as allegations of abuse mount, and Queensland buses to use CCTV from a government-blacklisted Chinese company.
Chief Minister Eva Lawler has postponed her trip to Japan amid concerns the Territory’s “infrastructure corridors are becoming inaccessible” due to flood waters, pledging to ensure “supplies” get to the Territory, as residents in one remote community have been evacuated to Darwin while several emergency flood warnings were issued Saturday night.
The NT Environment Minister has given gas giant Santos environmental approval for its Darwin gas pipeline duplication project, with the NT EPA’s environmental assessment highlighting potential significant impacts from the project, including dredging, but also cited the NT government’s economic strategy for the Middle Arm industrial precinct.
A male pedestrian was killed after being hit by a road train on the Stuart Hwy on Thursday night, NT Police.
A section of the Stuart Highway has been closed due to flooding between the Roper Highway and Three Ways, the NT Emergency Service has said, with various other low-lying sections flooded with water levels still rising on Friday afternoon.
Today’s national news includes Australia rejecting a request from Ukraine for the troubled MRH-90 Taipan helicopter fleet, China wanting renewed defence ties with Australia, illegal tobacco turf war escalating, and Foreign Minister Wong telling Palestinians that aid should be used properly.
Police are asking for public assistance to identify the people responsible for smashing the windows of up to 20 vehicles parked at an apartment complex on Gap Road overnight in another senseless crime that a local MLA says is taking a toll on young families in Alice Springs.
