Business news from across the Northern Territory: This week’s highlights include the Chief Minister Lawler raising concerns about the lack of local workers putting the NT’s economy at risk, PropTrack reporting that cheap rentals are on the rise in Darwin, JD Sports opening shop in Casuarina Square, and Richard Finch being appointed as general manager of Inpex’s NT interests, plus mining news.

Economy

Lack of local workers, putting the economy at risk: Chief Minister

The NT’s workforce must be expanded urgently to meet the pipeline of military investment planned for the region, Chief Minister Eva Lawler has said.

“Defence investment in the Northern Territory is big. It will be the cornerstone driving our economy for the next 10 years… all this work is coming and we will not have the workers to benefit from it,” she said.

Investing in education and training was her government’s direct response to ensuring a homegrown workforce, she added, but the CLP said it was too little, too late.

“The Chief Minister’s either (only) chosen to do something now—maybe she realises that this is really bad for the Territory—or she’s had those conversations and failed to convince Anthony Albanese,” CLP business spokeswoman Marie-Clare Boothby said. “Labor has failed to deliver the absolute basics for the Northern Territory, we have an economy that is heading backwards, we have crime, which is through the roof, more brazen and escalated.”

Real estate

Cheap rentals are rising in Darwin, according to another new report

A PropTrack report indicated that affordable rentals in Darwin increased last year, but only one in ten (or 10.7 per cent) of the properties for rent are below $400. The report said while the Darwin figure was 0.2 percentage points higher year-on-year, this had plummeted from 46.8 per cent in March 2020. At the beginning of the pandemic, nearly one-third (29.6 per cent) of houses for rent in Darwin were below the $400 price point, but this had dropped to just 1.8 per cent in April 2023 and fell again to 1.3 per cent in April this year.

Among all markets, Darwin had the second lowest share of affordable houses. The share of affordable rentals in regional NT also decreased from 38 per cent in March 2020 to 25.3 per cent in April 2024.

https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/darwin-sees-rise-in-cheap-rentals/news-story/fcfc76fe1952590a5b7f606f8731de02

Companies

JD Sports to open shop in Casuarina Square

Casuarina Square shopping centre will host global sportswear giant JD Sports, bringing Darwin the hottest names in sneakers, shoes, and apparel. Casuarina Square owners have announced that JD Sports will occupy a 414 sqm ground-floor location near MECCA.

“Our consumers will see a curation of fantastic footwear, apparel and accessories they haven’t seen before on the local market. We will also extend the aisles in-store with a digital kiosk, providing in-person shoppers with access to thousands of additional products available to order, with free delivery,” JD Sports CEO for Australia and New Zealand Aaron Faraguna said.

Transitions

Richard Finch is new NT Inpex boss

Richard Finch has been appointed general manager of Inpex’s NT interests. Mr Finch has been with Inpex since 2023. For the past six years, he has worked with Inpex at Darwin’s Bladin Point LNG plant and Ichthys LNG in senior leadership roles, supporting offshore and onshore operations, exploration, drilling and logistics. He will take over from Stuart Knowles, who left the role in February.

Mr Finch has immersed himself in the community, serving as chair of NT Worksafe’s advisory council on work health and safety. He also participates in school football, basketball and netball, the company said.

 

Resources

A8G enters an option agreement with Verdant for the NT mining project

Australasian Metals Limited (A8G) has entered into an option agreement with Verdant Minerals Limited to acquire the Dingo Hole High Pure Quartz Project. The acquisition of the highly prospective project will provide Australasian with exposure to the rapidly growing High Pure Quartz (HPQ) sector.

A8G said the Dingo Hole High Pure Quartz Project has significant outcropping silica mineralisation across the project area with good road access and that historical geochemical data indicate over 30 surface samples contain greater than 99.94 per cent SiO2 with only minimal sample preparation before assay 1. The company said historical samples potentially meet IOTA standards with deleterious elements such as aluminium (Al) below 10 ppm and titanium (Ti)and lithium (Li)below 1 ppm.

Arafura gets $300 million finance pot for NT rare earths play

A $452 million debt financing deal from Export Development Canada (EDC) has been conditionally approved for Arafura Rare Earths’ Nolans project in the Northern Territory. A result of its latest agreement with the EDC – which is a follow-up to the company’s letter of interest received in June last year – means Arafura has been approved for 68 per cent of its targeted senior debt financing of $1.168 billion.

The Nolans rare earths operation is a shovel-ready, world-class neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) project, with a resource underpinning 4,440 tonnes per annum of NdPr oxide production and a minimum 38-year mine life.