NT

In true outback spirit, an iconic Alice Springs arts hub has bounced back from the COVID-19 pandemic, with a huge jump in visitor numbers and an impressive calendar of events.

A Katherine company has been selected to build 20 new homes on a new subdivision at Beswick ... around the corner to the remote community of Gapuwiyak, an $18.2 million investment will yield 28 new homes ... The northeast Arnhem Land community has helped to plan the new homes, and will be involved in all aspects of construction.

This Saturday head to Purkiss Reserve at 10am to watch history being made when Spitfires Women and YDU Women play the inaugural game of AFLW in the Barkly. For the last eight weeks, women from Tennant Creek have been honing their AFL skills.

Kate Foran. Alana Drury has been with us at Barkly Vet for four weeks, and sadly she leaves this weekend. I decided to interview her about her time here. Alana comes from Central West, NSW where she grew up on a 25 acre hobby farm ... She learned how quickly you become a part of the community, given that there’s no easy way to duck ‘back home’ for the weekend, or even on to the next town for dinner, like rural life in other parts of Australia.

A series of NASA rockets will be launched into space from the Northern Territory later this month, with the Australian Government signing off on a history making moment for the local space sector. Three scientific suborbital sounding rockets will be launched between 26 June and 12 July 2022 from the Arnhem Space Centre, which is owned and run by Equatorial Launch Australia.

Watch the latest series of videos developed by NT Farmers Association to secure a domestic harvest workforce.

Banana freckle has been detected at a rural residential property in the Northern Territory’s Top End. Banana freckle is a fungal disease of banana leaves and fruit. There is no risk to human health from eating affected bananas. Banana freckle is a serious threat to the industry.

With the Alice Springs Beanie Festival coming up at the end of the month, a craftsperson visited Tennant Creek to hold felting workshops to allow Territorians who do not live in Alice Springs to make beanies to enter in the Festival ... Paterson St Hub was open ... for the public to come along and learn felting skills and give making a beanie a go.

Local school sports legend Pam Dillon has been honoured by winning in the annual NT Sports Awards. Fondly renowned in the region as Dillon, she took out the Karen Schneider SMA Safer Sport Award at a ceremony in Darwin on the weekend.

Pam Dillon. Teachers became students for a day when the Barkly Region Sport Education Coordinator, Pam Dillon visited to present professional development in the form of First Aid, CPR Update and Physical Literacy training. Staff members worked hard after school being assessed for First Aid and CPR after completing an online component.

Australia’s oldest organic beef company – OBE Organic – is putting sustainability in the spotlight ahead of World Environment Day this coming Sunday, June 5 with the release of a new report that details industry-leading practices in sustainable agriculture, supply chain management and human resources.

Australia’s iconic Greater Bilby is bouncing and digging around Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary near Alice Springs thanks to a national collaboration with Taronga Conservation Society Australia which has seen an important reintroduction of the species to a 9,450-hectare feral predator free area at the sanctuary. Thirty-two founders (18 males and 14 females) were specially selected from Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo.

There was a treat for food lovers last Friday night with Nyinkka Nyunyu holding a Dinner Under the Stars for around 40 people ... so much interest that a second sitting on Saturday night was added ... Diners on both nights were also able to participate in an Aboriginal art auction and a short film.

The Member for Barkly has called the change of Labor Government leadership a dictatorship after he and the Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro were denied permission to visit the Tennant Creek Police Station this week. The Opposition’s visit coincided with the Territory’s new Chief Minister Natasha Fyles and Police Minister Kate Worden’s tour of the Station.

New Chief Minister Natasha Fyles flew into Tennant Creek this week to touch base with local police and health workers and find out the key issues facing the town. Only the second female to secure the top job, the Chief Minister spoke to the Tennant Times about her new role.

Kate Foran. It was a terrific team effort. Together they visited Ali Curung, Ampilatwatja, Alpurrurulam, Elliott, Epenarra, Murray Downs and Mungkarta. More than a hundred dogs were desexed ... Two emu chicks were treated for injuries and bandaged ...

Thanks to the John Moriarty Football (JMF) and Australian Blind Football (ABF) partnership blind and vision impaired (BVI) Aboriginal children will be able to participate in JMF’s transformational program through the use of audible balls ... JMF Co-Founder and Co-Chair and the first Indigenous footballer to be selected to play for Australia, Yanyuwa man John Moriarty said the partnership is game changing.

“With the new Board of Directors, and myself as Chair of BRADAGG commencing in March this year, we are keen to start moving ahead with a clean slate on this sorely needed alcohol and other drug (AOD) therapeutic treatment facility. The NT Government first committed funding towards a new facility in 2018" : Barkly Regional Alcohol and Drug Abuse Advisory Group Chair, Elliot McAdam.