The Northern Territory’s heavily conflicted and “useless” regulatory authority that oversees Australia’s $50 billion online gambling industry was exposed on ABC’s Four Corners program Monday night, which featured NT Racing and Wagering Commission chair Alastair Shields fleeing media questions in an old Mercedes that initially wouldn’t start during a hasty getaway.
The Darwin ship lift project, initiated by the Giles CLP government in 2015, has seen the cost to complete the project increase to an estimated $820 million now, with the real possibility it could be over $1 billion by the time it’s completed, while a leading economist has raised financial management concerns.
Two Northern Territory Government departments have refused to explain the contradictions contained in an internal government report into a breach of fracking legislation by Empire Energy – now called Beetaloo Energy Australia – which involved one department sending a letter to “encourage behaviour change” after considering prosecution of the matter, while the other considered the company had done nothing wrong but still took action “to ensure it does not happen again”.
CDC bus drivers across the Territory have started wearing campaign-branded hi-visibility vests as part of the Transport Workers’ Union’s escalating work action against the bus operator’s contract offer, which they say falls below industry standards.
Tamboran Resources announced that its Beetaloo Joint Venture (BJV) has reached a Final Investment Decision (FID) for the Shenandoah South pilot project and that it has acquired Falcon Oil and Gas, while the NT Government announced that taxpayers will underwrite $75 million of a $180 million loan for a new compression facility to bring Beetaloo gas to market.
The Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics under former senior bureaucrat Andrew Kirkman spent $2 million on a deeply flawed and painfully slow internal investigation into the rorting of millions of taxpayer dollars through the Indigenous Employment Provisional Sum scheme by dozens of Territory contractors, that led to the recovery of only $900,000, new internal government documents show.
Darwin Airport Resort has recently enhanced its offerings with new attractions that complement its other recent upgrades, including the large pool, water features, and luxurious villas.
A $1 million program to help small and medium Territory businesses protect themselves against cyberattacks has been launched that will see up to $10,000 matched dollar for dollar by the government towards eligible cybersecurity services.
UPDATED: The cost of recommissioning the Manton Dam and associated works appears to have blown out by $55 million to $189 million in one year, the CLP Government disclosed on Friday without initially acknowledging it, but said works are nearing completion on the project that will improve water security for the Darwin region.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government’s real reason for amending the Sacred Sites Act earlier this year has become clearer, after it moved to alter the existing Authority Certificate for the Darwin Waterfront precinct to ensure a proposed high-rise hotel project can move ahead, despite repeated objections from traditional owners.
An internal government report into a fracking legislation breach by Empire Energy – now called Beetaloo Energy Australia – shows that while the NT Government first recommended prosecuting the company because a fine was considered an insufficient deterrent, it later decided to send a letter to “encourage behaviour change” instead.
Business news from across the Northern Territory: Latest highlights include APA Group commencing Beetaloo pipeline construction, $1.5B in trade relations showcased as NT heads to World Expo 2025 in Japan, and the NT Government launches October Business Month. Also making resource news is KGL Resources making progress on the Jervois Copper Project in the NT.
