It is alarming that there has been a huge increase in the theft (duffing) of cattle. Police Minister Manison suggests that theft of stock should be handled by police in the first instance. However, with police numbers in such short supply, one wonders whether this is possible. Maybe cattle could be microchipped with a tracer device enabling stations to control their movement by technological surveillance. The detection of untoward activity would be a handy alert, allowing police to be notified of possible criminal activity. Drones might also be used to help monitor untoward stock movement.

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The NT Shiplift will be a massive construction project. There is potential for it to offer a huge economic boost to the Territory when it is up and operational. The good news is that local construction firms Sitzler and Territoria Civil are in the running to be key project contributors. These two major Territory firms have proven commitment and outstanding records when it ocomes to undertaking major works in the Territory. Both companies deserve to be part of helping construct the shiplift.

The massive power outage which impacted Darwin, Palmerston, the rural area and swathes of the NT down to and including Katherine on November 18, confirms the tenuousness of our electricity supply. The fragility of the NT’s power infrastructure has us all wondering not if, but when, our next major, long term shutdown will occur. It’s a case not of ‘if’ but ‘when’.

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