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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.

Since its establishment in 2008, Arlpwe Art and Culture Centre has been a cultural hub in Ali Curung, providing a safe environment for community members to keep and share their traditions and cultural heritage. It is a place where men and women from Warlpiri, Kaytetye, Allyawarr and Warumungu language groups can learn about each other, cooperate, and build a framework to live together harmoniously.

The father of three started a local tourism bus operation, called Ten Ant Tours, which conveyed visitors to various mine sites and attractions throughout the region. Some of the mines on the tour including Burntshirt Mine, Nobles Nob, Golden 40, Black Cat and in the later years the Dot 6 Mine night time tour.

Tutor Siri Omberg was in town this week building up the hype for the Alice Springs Festival and brought the warmth to Tennant Creek by holding beanie-making workshops at the Paterson Street Hub to encourage more entries into the festival.

Catherine Grimley. After having missed out on the races last year due to COVID-19, Tennant Creek certainly made up for it last Saturday with the Tennant Turf Club Two Cup Race Day. The ladies dusted off their long unused gladrags, hats and high heels and there were more suits about than have been seen in a good long while as everyone dressed up to give race day a sense of occasion that has been missing for too long.

A joint initiative between all levels of Government and the private sector saw the Australian Government contribute $3.3 million from the Roads to Recovery Program, the Northern Territory Government contribute $1.4 million, the McArthur River Mine Community Benefits Trust contribute $1.4 million, and the Roper Gulf Regional Council contribute $577,715.

Weipa's air force base will play host to soldiers from Australia and the United States in a couple of months as Defence prepares for a major training exercise ... RAAF Base Scherger has been locked in to play a role and Weipa residents should expect to see some aerial activity around the site in July ... Last year’s Defence strategic update said Australia might now have fewer than 10 years to prepare for a major conflict.

Sparsely populated and prone to natural hazards, northern Australia is home to nearly 36,000 people – predominantly Indigenous Australians who live in remote communities. Previous fire and emergency management training has been seen as inadequate by local Indigenous land, fire and emergency managers, as it was based on suitability for southern Australia and lacked the tailored, collaborative strategies required to keep remote northern communities safe from frequent natural hazards in unique environments.

Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia, Keith Pitt, said the Bill means the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) will now be extended for a further five years to 2026. “The NAIF has already committed $2.9 billion to projects across the north that will support around 9,000 jobs. Our changes will increase its ability to back even more projects."