Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro is on her way to Japan today to discuss the Territory’s “strategic and economic partnerships with Japan”, which it appears will focus on gas and mining with private companies, while details of who in the Japanese Government she is meeting with to directly discuss increasing the presence of Japanese forces in the NT was not disclosed.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government’s rush to merge the NT’s anti-corruption watchdog into a new ‘super’ Integrity and Ethics Commission with other statutory bodies – following a secretive review with no public consultation – has raised concerns from national integrity experts and crossbench MLAs, who are all questioning the government’s motives for restructuring its integrity systems now.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government says it will permanently tear out the vines at the Cavanagh Street shade structure, but will not replace them, stating the structure will remain with new lights installed to create a “modern, ambient streetscape”, while not providing any costs for the new project.
The NT Government has scrapped the requirement to have certain tenders reviewed by a panel in an effort it says is to streamline “direct purchasing from Territory enterprises” despite previous concerns from the Buy Local Advocate and industry that government spending was not hitting intended local targets in part due to the lack of data about government contracts.
The Finocchiaro Government has released expressions of interest for a company to operate the barge service from Darwin to Wadeye after barge owner Auriga’s decision to move out of regional logistics in the Northern Territory.
Santos’ Darwin LNG facility has been leaking methane since 2006, but the public was never notified of the leak, raising allegations of gas industry cover-ups and regulatory failures, documents obtained by the Environment Centre NT show, with two NT politicians calling for immediate action to address the failures.
More than 30 Darwin food and hospitality businesses were blitzed by inspectors from the ATO and the Fair Work Ombudsman this week, after the businesses were reported for underpaying staff, underreporting income and evading liquor taxes.
The Finocchiaro Government is seeking expressions of interest from a proponent to use the State Square art gallery, which is not due to be finished until mid next year, specifying the “innovative” proposal must be financially sustainable with minimal or no dependence on taxpayer support.
The Department of Logistics and Infrastructure has been fined and convicted for breaching the conditions of an Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority certificate, which led to damage of a sacred site in a remote Central Australian community, and follows a costly, years-long court battle in which it attempted to defend its actions.
Business news from across the Northern Territory: The latest highlights include the NT securing rights to host next year’s G’Day Australia tourism trade event in the Build-Up, new fruit fly protocols facilitating unrestricted mango movement between the NT and WA, SunCable downgrading its renewable project due to funding issues, and Pathfinders’ new Darwin office opening; plus resource news.
The Darwin Entertainment Centre is now officially called the AANT Centre after a 10-year partnership agreement with the Automobile Association of the Northern Territory, but AANT has declined to disclose how much it paid for the naming rights.
Costings for two different versions of the new Darwin Council civic centre were given to council but never made public in the months before it put out an expression of interest for the building, that led to a partnership with developer DCOH to build the controversial 21-storey hybrid civic centre-private office tower.
