The Northern Territory’s Chief Health Officer says he is now working with the Environment Protection Authority to assess Inpex’s historical under-reporting of toxic emissions from its Ichthys LNG facility in Darwin, while an “independent investigator” has also been tasked to verify all of the gas giant’s data.
Business and Asian Relations Minister Robyn Cahill will also fly to Bali this week for a conference, two days after Deputy Chief Minister Gerard Maley announced he was heading to Indonesia for livestock talks and to officially open a steakhouse in Seminyak, but it is unclear if the two ministers will cross paths while overseas.
Deputy Chief Minister Gerard Maley will lead a delegation of NT livestock representatives to Indonesia this week, which he said will strengthen international partnerships involving the NT’s livestock and agriculture, with the trip also timed to celebrate the opening of a new steakhouse in Seminyak featuring NT beef.
The NT jumped from eighth to fourth in overall economic standing, its best result since October 2016, the latest CommSec State of the States quarterly economic report shows, while Western Australia leads overall for the fifth consecutive quarter, topping four economic indicators.
While multiple unresolved integrity scandals hang over her head, Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro introduced legislation to Parliament on Thursday to establish a new Ethics and Integrity Commission, which she said will “streamline integrity oversight”, but failed to seek any public input on the changes and chose not to refer the proposed bill to the Parliament’s scrutiny committee for bipartisan oversight.
Inpex reported an oil spill at its Ichthys facility on Darwin Harbour earlier this month, which was made public days after the Japanese gas giant admitted to under-reporting toxic emissions for years at the same facility, with calls for a public inquiry into the company’s failures.
Racing Minister Marie-Clare Boothby has defended the beleaguered Racing and Wagering Commission’s alleged conflicts of interest with the industry it regulates – that formed the focus of a recent Four Corners investigation – by suggesting it would be “amazing” if she could take two crossbench MLAs to the racetrack and lay a couple bets down with them to “see what happens”.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government’s pick to run the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority went to university with the Chief Minister’s husband and remains close friends with him, the NT Independent can reveal, with the appointment made amid sweeping changes to the Sacred Sites Act and the government’s move to push through the proposed Darwin Waterfront hotel project despite traditional owners’ objections.
The NT’s environmental regulator is investigating after Inpex admitted to under-reporting toxic emissions from its Ichthys LNG plant, with errors in the way “some emissions” from the plant have been calculated and reported since 2018, including volatile organic compounds such as benzene, a leukaemia-causing chemical, which a doctor says could cause serious health problems.
Darwin and Palmerston bus drivers, represented by the Transport Workers’ Union, have warned that further industrial action could occur if a fair offer is not made by private bus operator CDC, following Monday’s strike action that shut down bus services in the Greater Darwin area.
Greater Darwin area commuters are being advised to seek other transport options because of a 24-hour bus drivers strike on Monday, October 20, after stalled enterprise bargaining negotiations between the Transport Workers Union and private bus operator CDC.
EXCLUSIVE: Darwin Waterfront Corporation chief executive Alastair Shields has been using at least two valuable parking spaces on the top level of the Kitchener Drive multi-storey carpark as his own personal garage to keep two Mercedeses – including the red one that featured in a recent Four Corners episode – which the former chair of the corporation says he had no knowledge of, raising questions about undisclosed gifts and whether fringe benefit tax has been paid for Mr Shields’s free parking fancy.
