Papua New Guinea’s Auditor-General has more independence from the executive branch of government than the Northern Territory’s, according to a startling report, which has raised concerns about how effectively the NT Government is held to account for its exorbitant spending of taxpayer funds.
A government-backed initiative that aims to get vacant commercial buildings in the Darwin CBD repurposed for student accommodation or to serve as hostels, has been given a two-year timeframe by the CLP Government, but it remains unclear how popular the plan is with local developers and landowners.
Latest highlights include the Territory recording the lowest rate of yearly wage growth, the NT’s worker shortage continuing to exacerbate ongoing labour shortages, the cattle export industry seeing a decade-high performance, Inpex admitting to on-selling natural gas, and the Top End named among the world’s must-visit destinations for this year.
Toyota dominated the Northern Territory’s new car market last year, with the four top-selling models all from the Japanese manufacturer, according to Motor Trade Association data and while new vehicle sales increased by 1.3 per cent overall, sales of new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles increased by 140 per cent.
The taxpayer-funded Darwin Waterfront Corporation, which was thrust into the public spotlight earlier this year for unresolved governance failures, mismanaged conflicts of interest, and nepotistic hiring practices, ran a record $3.3 million deficit last financial year, while the DWC board’s chair appears to have ignored key recommendations to improve the corporation’s governance, according to its annual report.
A Darwin-based tree services company has been fined $10,000 following a serious workplace incident that involved an employee attempting to light a cigarette for another worker who was refuelling a work vehicle, causing a fireball that engulfed the vehicle and injured the employee.
Consolidated Pastoral Company has acquired the Beetaloo aggregation of stations in the NT for more than $300 million, making it the largest pastoral sale in the Territory’s history.
St John Ambulance NT will be given the non-emergency patient transport contract by the Finocchiaro Government without it going to tender, the ambulance operator has said, which follows its June claim it was in direct negotiation with the government over the emergency road transport contract despite revelations that the Major Crime Squad investigated the death of one of its patients and an alleged cover-up by management earlier this year.
Darwin Bowls and Social Club plans to develop a RV park next to the current club site in Fannie Bay, with a capacity for 40 vans to be established in three-stages, plans lodged with the government show.
Virgin Australia has announced it will resume direct flights between Sydney and Darwin, which were scrapped in early 2023, but not until June, and they will be suspended again in January 2027 before beginning again in March that year, in what the airline said was a seasonal operation to “align with market demand”.
Four days after threatening rolling power blackouts for Top End residents over the holidays, Mining and Energy Minister Gerard Maley held a press conference inside Parliament House on Tuesday to announce his government will “save the Territory” by approving an application from Beetaloo Energy (formerly Empire Energy) to sell “appraisal” gas back to the government.
The NT Police’s new IT operations system took more than seven years to complete, had costs blowouts of at least $15 million to an estimated $60 million and did not “fully deliver expected benefits”, a new Auditor-General’s report has found.
