The Finocchiaro Government has named former INPEX NT general manager Stuart Knowles as the interim Territory Coordinator, on the same day it publicly released its proposed legislation that would give the position and the Chief Minister sweeping powers to exempt certain projects from environmental and other regulatory processes.
Empire Energy’s pilot project to frack gas in the Beetaloo Basin has been given environmental approval, the company has said, while an environmental group estimated the approval would allow the company to use 410 million litres of water, the equivalent of 164 Olympic swimming pools and produce 72 pools worth of fracking wastewater over the life of the project.
Solar installation company Mpriza Group Pty Ltd and its manager, Nicholas Zikos, have been fined after pleading guilty in Darwin Local Court to multiple work health and safety breaches, some of which were brought after the company “inadvertently” sent evidence of its own wrongdoing to NT WorkSafe.
Darwin Council will spend more than double the money on a new civic centre than it said it would spend two years ago, as part of a new public-private development deal announced with developer DCOH.
Infrastructure Australia rejected the Northern Territory Government’s business case for the proposed Middle Arm industrial precinct, documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws show, while the NT Environmental Protection Agency has extended its deadline by two years for the government to submit an environment impact statement, pushing the project start date back to at least 2026.
Millions of Territory taxpayer dollars have been wasted on the proposal to manufacture amphibious aircraft in the Northern Territory, with the Chief Minister announcing the project is currently in limbo as the government attempts to claw back millions from Amphibious Aerospace Industries, which is allegedly only operating out of the United States currently.
The latest business highlights include a new investment boost to enhance mining prospects of Tennant Creek, and Dollars and Sense opening their fifth NT discount store. Also making resource news is Kingsland to define an indicated resource for Leliyn in the NT, CLP approves revival of Pine Creek gold mine, and Bubalus set to secure land access for Nolans East.
The 2024 Northern Territory Brolga Tourism Awards celebrated 27 winners from local businesses, organisations, and individuals, at a ceremony in Alice Springs, with a record 94 nominations from across the Territory, the highest in five years, the government said, which comes amid troubling times for the industry.
In the last week the NT Government has released 13 tenders, including Construction of Staff Accommodation Buildings in Tennant Creek Hospital.
The Finocchiaro Government has frozen car registration fees and will give Territorians a free driver’s licence for a year, as part of its plan to ease the cost-of-living crisis, but the costs to the Territory’s budget have not been disclosed.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government has “betrayed the trust of thousands” by scrapping the plan to underground power lines across Darwin, the Opposition says, while the government said “it looks like” it has found $200 million in savings from “deferring” that project and others, but their figures do not appear to add up.
Two interstate high-risk work assessors brought to the NT to train an undisclosed number of employees at different companies were not accredited under NT law, NT WorkSafe has revealed, urging all businesses and workers to thoroughly verify the accreditation of assessors before investing in high-risk training.
