NT

South Australian volunteers delivered $45 billion in value to the local economy last year with younger South Australians leading the way and volunteer numbers surpassing one million for the first time. According to the 2025 State of Volunteering report, released today by Volunteering SA&NT, volunteers created $45 billion in gross social and economic value across 294.8 million hours.

The voice of Territorians in Canberra is barely a whisper: just four NT pollies are in the national Parliament. Only one of them, Labor Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, is on the Government front bench. We asked her for an interview on June 2 or 3 about Territorians likely to have a very specific take on the $368b AUKUS fiasco.

The nation-building Arafura Rare Earths Nolans Project has been declared the first Significant Project under the Territory Coordinator Act, supporting the coordinated delivery of the $1.6 billion development. Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said the project highlighted the critical role the Northern Territory is playing in supporting Australia's economy and national security.

The biggest diphtheria outbreak since national record keeping began now (21 May) stands at 230 cases this year, affecting mainly Aboriginal people and believed to have caused the death one person. Around 60 per cent of the cases are in the Northern Territory, with further outbreaks in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland.

As part of the Finocchiaro CLP Government’s year of Growth, Certainty and Security, Minister for Trade, Business and Asian Relations Robyn Cahill is leading a targeted government delegation to Taiwan this week, advancing the Territory’s position as a trusted and competitive partner for one of our most important trading partners.

The month of May marks the approaching end of the fiscal year for many businesses and a rush to find receipts and finalise financials, but for one Tiwi Islands organisation, the focus is firmly on planting for the future. Tiwi Plantations Corporation - based 80 kilometres north of Darwin on the Tiwi Islands - has released the Tiwi Forestry Workforce Plan 2026–2030...

Strong fields across all divisions highlighted the depth of local talent and growing interstate presence at this year’s Equestrian South Australia State Showjumping Championships at Talunga Park, Mount Pleasant. The event drew entries from across South Australia, Victoria and the Northern Territory, with more than 130 combinations converging on the Adelaide Hills venue...

The town's embracing of the family struck by tragedy came to its culmination at a sunset vigil yesterday to say farewell to Kumanjayi Little Baby, dead at just five years old. There were no less than 1500 locals on Anzac Oval, the 20-80 black-white mix about the same as the whole town’s. The pain of the recent events had united them.

Mike Gillam. On March 3 the Bureau of Meteorology recorded an impressive monsoon trough containing four tropical lows each with the potential to develop into a cyclone, hugging the coast of northern Australia ... Moths and butterflies are everywhere and I don’t believe it’s an exaggeration to say that every genus of plants is supporting at least one distinctive species of caterpillar.

The Finocchiaro CLP Government has launched the Northern Territory Defence Strategy 2026 as Defence Week begins in Darwin.. Announced today during a keynote address at the Northern Australia Defence Summit, Chief Minister and Minister for Defence NT Lia Finocchiaro outlined the five key priorities: Maritime sustainment, Army’s Littoral Pivot, Northern Theatre Logistics, Northern Basing and Ranges and Innovation, Test and Evaluation.

From the main drag to the desert, our iconic BreastScreenNT bus, Millie, has spent more than 10 years providing dedicated service to thousands of adoring fans across the Territory. In 2026, Millie will take her final tour...

Remembering people on Anzac Day who gave their lives defending their country is a noble custom in Australia. But the situation in the Middle East urges us to broaden our take on armed conflict ... Because the USA is providing arms that Israel is using to attack Iran, Iran is attacking American military bases in countries that host them. We are one of them: Pine Gap, 19km from Alice Springs...

An inaugural report from Australia's most comprehensive and detailed fire mapping database has found 2025 to be the second largest fire year in the past decade, driven by severe weather and storm-related ignitions. The North Australia and Rangelands Fire Information (NAFI) service, based out of Charles Darwin University (CDU) recently released its first – and from now annual – Fire Year Summary Report for 2025, detailing fire activity across Australia. 

The Finocchiaro CLP Government is delivering stronger, more reliable power for Alice Springs and Katherine, with an $82.1 million investment in battery energy storage. Territory Generation has awarded Pacific Energy a contract to deliver the next phase of the battery energy storage system (BESS) program.

The shortages caused by attacks on Iran by Israel and the US have massively increased interest in the Territory’s huge gas reserves as well as several minerals. This is clearly the main talking point at the Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar (AGES) this week in Alice Springs which may become the base for a major mine.

Parrtjima 2026 has celebrated its biggest opening weekend yet, recording the largest opening weekend attendance in the festival’s history, including the second-largest opening night, as visitors flocked to the Red Centre. Across Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the festival attracted nearly 8,300 attendances, with a program that’s still got plenty for all to enjoy until 19 April.

Results for overnight trips were flat for most states and territories in the year ending December 2025 when compared with the year ending December 2024, except for the Northern Territory which saw an increase of 151,000 trips or 18 per cent. The NT is the only to state or territory to see an increase in overnight spend when compared with 2024, up by $523m 43 per cent.

Germany is investing €50m ($58m) in a rare earth mine north of Alice Springs, near Aileron, in a bid to secure access to the crucial materials for German businesses, according to Economy Minister Katherina Reiche.

The Finocchiaro CLP Government has enacted the Price Exploitation Prevention Act for the first time, since its inception in 1949, in an unprecedented move to manage the on-going fuel crisis.

The controversial buffel grass permits announced by Environment Minister Joshua Burgoyne last week apply only to its importation from outside the NT. Once here, the use, propagation, selling and transport of the declared weed has blanket clearance on pastoral lease land, nearly half of the NT, as the Minister is due to approve.

I went to Adelaide yesterday. This is very naughty given that NT Tourism Minister Marie-Clare Boothby had just announced a strategy aiming at making more money for our travel industry ... My booking with Qantas triggered an avalanche of texts and emails...