NT

The Chief Minister announced Territory Day celebrations across the NT are deferred due to the unfolding COVID situation in Darwin ... Territory Day will go ahead at a later date so we can all celebrate together ... The Alice Springs Show which was due to happen today was cancelled due to the lockdown.

Pam Dillon. Students from the Barkly demonstrated their prowess and love for the round-ball game at the recent NT Under 12 Soccer Championships and Development camp in Darwin.

Local Government Minister Chansey Paech and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Selena Uibo were in town this week to launch the revised edition of the Remote Engagement and Coordination Strategy (RECS). The RECS is part of a suite of tools designed to improve all aspects of regional and remote engagement, travel, and coordination of community visits ... Work on the RECS second edition was led by a group of NT Government agencies and the Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory.

The Tennant Creek Local Post Office operations will be taken over by Australia Post next Tuesday. “We look forward to continuity of services for the Tennant Creek community and to servicing our valued customers there,” a spokesperson said. The move comes after former manager Rebecca Liebelt and her husband Greg Liebelt, who are jointly accused of money laundering appeared in court mid-May.

The first shipment of iron ore from processed waste materials at Frances Creek Mine are being celebrated this week as a huge sign of strength and confidence in the Territory’s mineral industry. The Territory Labor Government approved the Mining Management Plan for the Frances Creek Mine in March 2020 enabling the processing of existing ore stockpiles at the mine. NT Bullion – the operator of the mine – has been using innovative x-ray technology from German based Steinert to screen waste rock stockpiles at the site to produce export quality iron ore.

The Territory Government is creating investment opportunities for the resources sector with today’s announcement of a new acreage release for onshore petroleum exploration. Applications and submissions for an exploration permit are now invited over two areas in the southern Georgina Basin, on the Northern Territory/Queensland border.

With the dry season in full swing and school holidays just around the corner, Territorians and visitors are being urged to be Crocwise when exploring the Top End. So far this year, crocodile management teams have removed more than 160 crocodiles from Top End waterways.

Barkly Mayor Jeffrey McLaughlin has been awarded this year’s Paul Harris Fellow by the local Rotary Club. The event was also an opportunity to meet Rotary’s Area Governor, Ray Fauntleroy, who gave a presentation on some of the important projects Rotary is involved in, and his experience with Rotary’s work in Timor.

Peter Davenport. Last week the Tennant Creek Eightball Association hosted the Northern Territory Eightball Titles. This falls on Tennant once every five years and all other centres travel here to compete. It was a great week seeing some excellent games being played by the best players in the NT.

Kendall Jennings. Before the tragedy struck at the 2021 Tatts Finke Desert Race, Barham local Riley Duncan piloted his motorcycle, a KTM500, to the 40th fastest time in Class Two of the Prologue with a six-minute 17.4 second time ... The first leg of the desert race from Alice Springs to Finke followed the old rail route near the most centre point of Australia – 226 kilometres of brutal Australian terrain, on the edge of the Simpson Desert, surrounded by mountain ranges and rock formations.

The Barkly community is looking forward to the most modern supermarket known of its kind in the region, including solar power and a generator to protect from blackouts in the town. The Tennant Creek IGA is owned jointly by the Julalikari Council Aboriginal Corporation and Indigenous Business Corporation (IBA), but managed by IBA Retail Asset Management (IRAM).

Founding member of the pioneering Warumpi Band Neil Murray is performing in Tennant Creek tonight as part of his Keep Rolling On national tour. Named after his latest single, Keep Rolling On, which he says is a celebration of the continuance of First Nations people and their culture in Australia. You can catch Murray at the Memo Club tonight for the free performance.

Monday morning the Memorial Club was a hive of activity with the start of the Northern Territory 8 Ball Titles. Along with the Tennant Creek players, there are teams from Darwin, Litchfield, Alice Springs and Katherine all hoping to take a trophy (or two) away at the end of the competition.

Northern Territory pastoralists Roy and Janet Chisholm have sold a central Australian farm for $6.1 million to Caason Group. The 1,047-hectare Oolloo Farm, which produces irrigated hay, sits 200kms north of Alice Springs and included a 1,000-megalitre per year water extraction licence, as well as six centre pivots.

The Territory is becoming a big player in Australia’s screen and film industry, with the announcement of another large production Barrumbi Kids to be filmed in Beswick and the production expecting to inject $2.8m into the economy.

New homes currently being rolled out in Tennant Creek have not only created a building boom in town but have been welcomed by residents whose living conditions are now drastically improved. The $7 million investment, delivered by the Territory Labor Government, include nine three-bedroom homes and four four-bedroom homes.

Strong winds and raised dust did little to dent enthusiasm among remote Barkly students who recently got a taste of inter-school sports competition. Sixteen students from Irrultja Homeland Learning Centre travelled to nearby Ampilatwatja to join local school students for a two-day athletics carnival.