Darwin-based tech start-up Raindrop is poised to revolutionise the insurance industry with its innovative AI-powered platform designed to simplify complex insurance policy jargon, after being laughed at by industry for its owner’s choice of city to run the tech company out of.
The latest NT business highlights include the NT Government granting two key mineral leases to Verdant Minerals; Inpex halts operation of Bladin Point facility to facilitate business expansion, and Kakadu National Park’s Gunlom Falls to reopen to visitors and tourists next month. Also making resource news is DevEx Resources discovering new uranium targets at the Nabarlek Project.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has declared a re-elected Labor government will end the lease of the Darwin Port to Chinese-owned Landbridge Group, making the snap announcement as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was on his way to Darwin to announce today that a Coalition government would also return the port to Australian control.
Darwin Council committed at least 16 “significant” failures of governance under two different pieces of legislation when sealing its secret deal with developer DCOH to build a 21-storey hybrid civic centre-officer tower, lawyers acting for nearby residents have said, with council now asked to hand over hidden documents relating to the development to help inform a potential Federal Court challenge to prevent the building being constructed.
EXCLUSIVE: Darwin Waterfront Corporation chief executive Alastair Shields advocated for his mate Andrew Kirkman’s sister Jodie Ryan to be given more than $44,000 of taxpayer money to continue sitting on the waterfront board after she resigned as the NT’s head public servant, a new secret memo has revealed, raising further questions about undisclosed conflicts of interest at the DWC and the possible misuse of public resources.
The Darwin RSL’s plans for old Admiralty House in the city have been approved by the government, with the veteran’s group saying they hope to open its new social club there in four months.
Despite strong growth prospects and high demand, the NT’s property sector continues to face challenges from low construction activity and high rental costs, even as new affordable housing schemes have been implemented, according to a new report.
EXCLUSIVE: Tourism Minister and Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby’s chief of staff worked for Alastair Shields at the Darwin Waterfront Corporation for more than a decade before being seconded to Ms Boothby’s office last August, the NT Independent can reveal, raising questions about the Minister’s office’s ability to objectively review a “briefing” the Minister requested into concerns of improper conduct at the taxpayer-funded corporation.
NT WorkSafe executive director Peggy Cheong has resigned her role after nearly two-and-a-half years leading the workplace regulator.
Business and Asian Relations Minister Robyn Cahill has travelled to Singapore as part of a Territory trade delegation to “strengthen ties and promote investment opportunities”, but her office would not say who exactly she is meeting with in the Asian city-state.
The Finocchiaro Government has abandoned the Northern Territory’s 2030 renewable electricity target, now criticising the plan as unrealistic and costly despite supporting it in opposition, while a specialist energy analyst who modelled the expense of meeting the target said the government is blatantly lying about the cost and inflating it tenfold.
The CLP Minister responsible for the Darwin Waterfront Corporation has balked at ordering an external investigation into possible misuse of public resources and unresolved conflicts of interest at the taxpayer-funded organisation, choosing instead to keep the matter internal, while questions have also been raised about conflicts of interest with the ICAC and the DWC’s chief executive.
