Two Territorians suffered serious burns at work in separate incidents last month while refuelling petrol-powered pressure cleaners, prompting a safety alert from the workplace safety watchdog.

The Finocchiaro CLP Government has expanded on a previous Labor government memorandum of understanding with Dutch company Vopak to “accelerate” construction of a carbon storage facility at Middle Arm that would see liquified carbon dioxide shipped into Darwin from local and overseas companies, but the project, if it proceeds, is still not expected until some time next decade.

SunCable has officially submitted an application for environmental approval to develop a second solar and battery precinct at Muckaty Station, which the company said is aimed at meeting increasing energy demands from data centres in the region, which will be in addition to its proposed solar farm near Elliot.

Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro says her government has a duty to “act responsibly with taxpayers money” and “can’t continue to throw good money after bad” while referencing a major Darwin project that she said was “fantastic” in theory, but had massively blown its budget under the previous government and “can’t come at any cost” – but she was not talking about the Darwin Ship Lift project.

The government department in charge of the Darwin Ship Lift facility ignored advice from the Auditor General to order a cost-benefit analysis into the now $820 million project, stating it would do that when the project is complete, a new report has found, but nobody has been held accountable for the massive cost blowout, with the Finocchiaro CLP Government advised to continue with the project amid untested claims it cannot terminate the contract and has spent too much money to stop now.

The Northern Territory’s Chief Health Officer says he is now working with the Environment Protection Authority to assess Inpex’s historical under-reporting of toxic emissions from its Ichthys LNG facility in Darwin, while an “independent investigator” has also been tasked to verify all of the gas giant’s data.

Deputy Chief Minister Gerard Maley will lead a delegation of NT livestock representatives to Indonesia this week, which he said will strengthen international partnerships involving the NT’s livestock and agriculture, with the trip also timed to celebrate the opening of a new steakhouse in Seminyak featuring NT beef.

The NT jumped from eighth to fourth in overall economic standing, its best result since October 2016, the latest CommSec State of the States quarterly economic report shows, while Western Australia leads overall for the fifth consecutive quarter, topping four economic indicators.

Inpex reported an oil spill at its Ichthys facility on Darwin Harbour earlier this month, which was made public days after the Japanese gas giant admitted to under-reporting toxic emissions for years at the same facility, with calls for a public inquiry into the company’s failures.