The highly anticipated Motocross World Championship will make its return to Australia after a 24-year hiatus this weekend in Darwin, when world class racing hits the Hidden Valley Motorsports complex on a new purpose-built international motocross track.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government has appointed the former deputy chief executive of the City of Palmerston as the new CEO of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, amid assurances her former boss, head public servant Luccio Circarelli, was not involved in the hiring process.
An MLA, a national integrity body and the Environment Centre are calling for action to be taken against the head of the NT Environment Protection Authority after it was revealed on Friday that he did not disclose a perceived conflict of interest he had by working for a lobbyist firm that did work for the co-owner of the Darwin Liquified Natural Gas plant, the gas plant he made key decisions about after it was found to be leaking methane.
SunCable has shifted its focus to supplying renewable energy to Australian data centres through its Australia-Asia Power Link solar and battery initiative, which the company said was in response to the growing demand for renewable solutions for energy-intensive data centres and will occur before exporting the power overseas.
Latest highlights include the Chief Minister visiting Japan for economic talks and signing an agreement with Inpex, the NT Government announcing a sustainable agriculture blueprint for the region, and Telstra’s Best of Business Awards announcing NT finalists. Also making resource news is Core Lithium Increases Finniss Project Reserves increasing by 42 per cent.
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.
