Santos is expected to commence production at its Barossa offshore gas field off the NT coast later this year, following final federal approval being granted this week.

The Coalition has pledged to lower airfare prices in the NT by lifting cabotage restrictions that prevent foreign airlines from carrying passengers on domestic flights in Darwin, but has not confirmed any airline willing to do that and may find it difficult to attract any, an aviation expert said.

Long-serving government executive Andrew Kirkman suddenly departed his role in the public service Thursday afternoon after 26 years, amid the growing scandal at the Darwin Waterfront Corporation that has led to calls for an independent public inquiry.

Two parking levies that Darwin Council intends to use to build its new civic centre-private office tower with developer DCOH should be scrapped, the Property Council NT has said, because councils have collected and used them largely at their own discretion without transparent governance controls.

A Federal Court application has been lodged seeking to force Darwin Council to hand over documents relating to the deal it struck with developer DCOH to build the controversial 21-storey civic centre-private office tower, along with details of how it is using ratepayer money on the project.

The Middle Arm industrial precinct could end up costing the NT Government $5.5 billion in capital outlays and a further $140 million in annual operating expenditure for the next 50 years, which would affect its ability to fund health and education, a new report by an energy economist for the Environment Centre NT has found, while a federal Labor MP revealed her government’s $1.5 billion equity investment in the project is a long way from being finalised.

An NT mine operator which runs the Warrego mine rehabilitation project near Tennant Creek has been placed into external administration, according to ASIC records.

Darwin Council is using money collected from a public car parking levy to help finance its joint venture with a private developer to build the new Darwin civic centre, in potential breach of the legally-mandated Car Parking Contribution Plan, that will see each public car parking space at the new development cost three times more than previously planned, and which will provide 202 public parking spaces instead of the 1800 pledged.

Tourism Minister Marie-Clare Boothby has refused to comment on an internal “briefing” she received last week into allegations of mismanaged conflicts of interest and possible misuse of public resources at the Darwin Waterfront Corporation, after previously claiming she would “make some decisions” about the matter.

Access to East Arm via Berrimah Road south will be restored next week after being shut since November 2023, the NT Government has claimed in a stakeholder briefing, as the long-delayed and over-budget Tiger Brennan Drive overpass project inches closer to completion.

A renewable energy report hidden by the former Labor government has revealed the cost of meeting the Territory’s 50 per cent renewable electricity targets by 2030 was roughly $280 million and would come with moderate electricity price increases, but also with lower operating costs, which contradicts the Finocchiaro CLP Government’s claims it would cost 20 times as much.

The validity of the Mataranka water allocation plan is being challenged in the NT Supreme Court by the Environment Centre NT, represented by the Environmental Defenders Office, with the advocacy group claiming the Water Minister lacked vital hydrological and ecological data to make an informed decision.