The Northern Territory news Mon 22 Jun 2015
NT news
The Northern Territory news; NewspaperNT
2015-06-22
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English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin; Australian newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin
News Corp Australia
Darwin
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News Corp Australia
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/258151
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/505580
12 OPINION MONDAY JUNE 22 2015 NTNE01Z01MA - V1 Supercars even better at night AFTER another fantastic weekend of the V8 Supercars at Hidden Valley its been revealed that plans are afoot to see the event become a night-time spectacular. Chief Minister Adam Giles said Government had started making inquiries to turn the V8 Supercars at Hidden Valley Raceway from a daytime event into a night attraction. It would see it become the only V8 Supercars event to be held at night in Australia and although its only early days the prospect is an exciting one. Since the event started in 1998 the event has continued to grow, attracting more than 44,000 people to Hidden Valley over three days our largest tourism event of the year. Mr Giles said changing the event to be held at night could see more money injected into the Territory as a result. Theres potential to bring more (money) to the Territory (if we host the event) at night, Mr Giles said. It will be more about the exposure wed get from around the country and from Asia and being able to showcase Darwin over that weekend with the advertising. Its already a big money-spinner with an economic impact analysis conducted in 2012 showing the race gave the Territorys economy a $16 million boost. Any attempts made by the Government to make the figure higher should be supported. Thats not to say its a decision to be taken lightly but by all accounts the powers that be are looking at it very carefully, taking it slowly and making sure there will be a significant return on any expenditure required by taxpayers. Until then we eagerly await next years event ... which will still be held during the day. ...and another thing ITS been a long eight years waiting for the Northern Territory Fire and Emergency Services to put out another calendar but thankfully a group of NT firies are back to help get us hot under the collar. One confident firie told the NT News they were definitely hotter than their southern counterparts. Youre not kidding have you seen their average temps at the moment? Safety sidelined THE latest little gem from Inpex is to remove Iron Man (steel) barriers from the Blaydin Point site as a cost-cutting measure. Iron Men are used as a physical barrier to prevent work groups being exposed to heavy plant and road traffic on site. They started doing this last week, despite the fact that a minibus crashed off of the road and into a cable drum on Monday. It could quite easily have been a group of workers. The drum and vehicle were both significantly damaged, but this has all been hushed up. Theyre putting cost above safety more and more lately and the unions are getting agitated. Name and address withheld Onya, Brandan MY son had his school sports day last day of semester, and he came first! But he lost his first prize ribbon. Brandan says take mine. My son stops crying. Legend Brandan! Happy Mum and Son, Marrara Opaque justice PUBLIC servant in a clinical health service keeps job after being convicted of drug use and possession? Forgive me for thinking this was a hoax article meant for April Fools Day. My son was rejected for an entry-level position with Australia Post for having an identical conviction on his (young) record. Cleaners also are excluded from NT Health employment for such charges. More transparency and accountability please. John Elferink and his minions are a joke. Cullen Bay Cupcake Travel kneejerk I WAS the Chief Ministers PA for the period 2002-2005 and I used Sandra Lew Fatt Travel World during that time for the Chief Ministers travel. It was the policy of the government at that time to support local businesses. I had previously worked in a large corporation and had organised countless travel for executives. I can honestly say I have never worked with anyone with more integrity and efficiency than Sandra Lew Fatt. Government travel often requires many changes due to circumstances and at the last minute; Sandra Lew Fatt dealt with every obstacle to ensure her clients were taken care of. The services rendered by her were above and beyond the call of duty. I have known her to get out of bed at all hours of the night to attend to a problem of one of her travellers overseas in another time zone. Having had many years working in Qantas, she knows the business like no other and always finds a solution where others say it cannot be done. I am sure there are many other travel agencies within the Territory who also provide these excellent services. I now live in WA and was so impressed with Sandras services and attention to detail that I have continued to book all my travel for the past 10 years through her. I am so disappointed to hear that the NT Government has had a kneejerk reaction on the back of another incident and decided to outsource their travel under the banner of cost efficiencies. You pay peanuts, you get monkeys. The Government will never get the services they have enjoyed by using local businesses such as Sandra Lew Fatt. Shame on them for punishing and deserting the very people they represent, and for destroying the livelihoods of those who have worked so hard and given their all to a government that has now turned its back on them. Kerry Lane, WA Diesel disgust IF you drive a diesel vehicle and wonder why people pass you at strange or stupid times, then just sit at the same speed, its probably because they got sick of driving through the clouds of filthy black smoke you leave behind. Brent, Darwin Ticket fade anger CONSUMER law provides that items must be fit for purpose. Surely parking tickets are not fit for purpose if they can curl up in the heat or are too light to remain in place if the car door is closed. How about someone takes on Darwin council and serve Bushrangers spiky end of the pineapple back to the them? Past fines caused by similar problems should be refunded. Anne, Nightcliff Battery optimism IN response to Chris Sweeneys letter (Letters to the Editor, NT News, June 17), the increase in power bills is mainly due to the excessive construction of poles and wires that are no longer needed. However, the exciting fact is the efficiency and cost of battery storage has improved dramatically, making the possibility of baseload renewable power for towns and cities much closer. Di Koser, Nightcliff How about someone takes on Darwin council and serve Bushrangers spiky end of the pineapple back to the them? SEE BELOW Letters to the editor should be kept to 175 words or less. Send your letters to GPO Box 1300, Darwin, 0801, or email ntnmail@ntnews.com.au You must include your name, home address or PO Box number. Name and address will be withheld on request. The Northern Territory News reserves the right to edit letters. Responsibility is taken by the Editor, NT News, GPO Box 1300, Darwin, NT, 0801 WHAT: Street lights out on Koolpinyah Cres and Beetaloo St. WHO'S RESPONSIBLE: PowerWater general manager for Power Networks John Greenwood. CONTACT: 8924 5068 Do you know of something in the Territory that needs fixing? Give the Fixer a call on 8944 9750, email thefixer@ntnews.com.au or follow on Twitter @NTNTheFixer 10 YEARS AGO: The NT now has 10 female Members in its 25-Member Legislative Assembly. That is believed to be in the top 10 examples of female parliamentary representation in the world. 20 YEARS AGO: An overseas company may build a $100 million oil refinery in Darwin. The NT Government is keeping the plan secret to protect commercial confidentiality. 25 YEARS AGO: The Northern Territorys first crocodile skin tannery will be opened today by the Chief Minister Marshall Perron.