Darwin CBD $80m data centre, commencing construction October
More than 700 pastoralists and stake holders from the beef industry are in town for NTCA’s 37th annual conference.
Northern Territory
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AN $80m data centre will be built in th eheard of the CBD, with construction beginning in October.
Australian data company NEXTDC will build the $80 million critical infrastructure building called D1 Darwin, on a Harvey St vacant lot in the CBD.
The Tuesday morning announcement opened with a smoking ceremony by Larrakeyah man Trent Lee.
Announcing the facility at the site of the soon to be multi-story centre, Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the new infrastructure would be the first of many data investments in Darwin. “We are a very sensible place to invest, we’re going to see a lot of fibre optic cables coming into Australia connecting us to the rest of the region and you’ll be able to securely store your data here,” Mr Gunner said.
“We know Singapore is full, they can’t take any more data centres and I actually think we provide a better option than Singapore when it comes to connection into our local region.”
Designing and building data centres around the country for the last 12 years, the Australian owned and operated company NEXTDC, is the nation’s largest network of premium cloud enabled data storage.
NEXTDC chief executive Craig Scroggie said the significant economic benefits for the Territory would flow when the new data centre opens.
Commencing construction in October, Mr Scroggie said a second location for a data centre was already in the works with the NT government.
“We see this as the beginning, as an investment over the next couple of decades,” Mr Scroggie said.
The global data centre market is expected to reach $174 billion by 2023, and the Territory Economic Reconstruction’s final report identified data centres as key to positioning the Territory as Australia’s digital gateway to Asia and beyond.
But Mr Gunner said he did not see the NT as the ‘gateway’ to Asia but rather as an extension of Asia.
“We are Asia and we are a secure, sensible and strategic place to invest and there’s no better example of that than data,” Mr Gunner said.
“We know Singapore is full, they can’t take any more data centres and I actually think we provide a better option than Singapore when it comes to connection into our local region.”
NEXTDC has committed to using local Territory contractors wherever possible for the design, construction and operations of its Darwin data centre network.
Ag Tech and Tea
HUNDREDS of farmers and community stakeholders from the Territory pastoral industry are in town for the largest annual Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association (NTCA) conference yet.
Attracting more than 700 attendees, the event is about sharing ideas, networking and discovering new effective technologies.
Kicking off the program on Thursday, the inaugural Tech and Tea held by NTCA and water pump solutions company ReAqua, spoke about emerging technologies in the industry.
NTCA business development officer Hannah Murray said the morning was about “getting everyone in a room together”.
“We wanted to provide a platform for some of those key stakeholders and tech providers, to talk about some of the technologies that are emerging and tools and technologies that can help improve profitability and production in beef business in Northern Australia,” Ms Murray said.
Encapsulating the purpose of the morning, Ms Murray said the event was about encouraging pastoralists to get the best product possible.
“That’s my biggest drive, I want to help our producers and help boost industry from a productivity and profitability sense because if we can do that, that benefits everyone,” she said.
“That benefits any industry but community and environment as well. So it’s a win win.”
The session was made up of presentations with a producer panel, attracting more than 150 attendees.
“We’re going to try and make this an annual conference and we’ll try and expand that program next year because we had really high demand so we’ll probably try and run a full day next year,” Ms Murray said.
Ben T’iron and Metallic Scrap
AN incredible display of welding craftsmanship is on display at the Darwin Entertainment Centre as a part of the 37th annual NTCA conference.
The life size art piece, Ben T’iron and Metallic Scrap, simulates a campdraughterx, horse and beast made out of steel junk like seat belt buckles, car parts, shovels, chains and “whatever junk” Mt Isa artist Claire Murphy could find.
The steel artwork took about two years for Ms Murphy to create and is on sale for a justifiable $500,000.
The NTCA conference is artworks debut appearance in public.
“I’m proud of it,” Ms Murphy said.
“This is the first big sculpture I’ve made – it’s my first major piece.
“I didn’t expect it to turn out this good, I was aiming for a realistic feel but I wanted it to be in proportion and whatnot and correct but not take away the fact that it’s made out of junk.”
Playing on the popular horse breed metallic cat, the steel horse’s name is Metallic Scrap and the horse rider’s name is Ben T’iron.
The conference has a busy schedule on Friday with guest speakers, presentations and the Gala Dinner.
Lumpy skin disease
THERE is a “real, live threat” lumpy skin disease could get into Australia and “devastate” the Territory’s cattle industry, Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has warned.
In Darwin on Wednesday, Minister Littleproud said the Federal Government would invest $61.6m over four years to boost biosecurity measures in Northern Australia, with cases of lump skin disease identified in Indonesia in recent weeks.
Minister Littleproud said the government would send its chief veterinary officer to Indonesia this week to “make sure it doesn’t spread to Ausralia”, with $15m alone set aside for measures such as “surveillance crews” and expediting an effective vaccine.
“There is a real, live risk that we could get it here,” Minister Littleproud said.
“There may have to be some kind of testing regimen here if we get a case here in Australia, of any exports of buffalo on the way out.
“That’s why we’re trying to make sure if it does hit Australia, we’re on the front foot, we identify it immediately and we contain it and eradicate it.
“There are a number of vaccines around the world (available) … we’re trying to prioritise what the best one is for Australia.
“The quicker we react, the quicker we eradicate it. That’s our best hope in keeping export markets open.”
He said lumpy skin disease could potentially impact the country’s $15 billion cattle industry and compromise its access to international markets.
“We’re moving swiftly,” he said.
“It’s only two weeks ago that they had cases in Indonesia.”
The funding will also employ extra indigenous biosecurity officers and four dedicated detector dogs in the north, putting “more boots and paws on the ground” in high risk areas.
“If we got lumpy skin into this country, and in particularly for Northern Territory … you would lose your export markets overnight,” Minister Littleproud said.
“That would devastate the Northern Territory straight out.
“These threats are real and they are coming in real time.”
He said the NT was at the “biosecurity frontline” due to its proximity to countries where “significant animal and plant diseases are present”.
Territory’s mental health services sector to receive $43m in funding
THE Territory mental health services sector will receive more than $43 million of combined funding from the federal and Territory government in bid to improve the gaps in the support services.
The money will be spent over the next five years with the Commonwealth investing $30.65m and the NT government $13.25m.
New mental health services will be added and pre-existing services will be expanded to engage more effectively in the community.
People in the group known as the ‘missing middle’ are the primary focus of the new mental health services.
Suicide prevention services will also be established.
The funding includes:
$15.4m for two new Head to Health adult mental health satellite clinics and ongoing funding for the Territory’s first Head to Health centre that opened in January this year;
$9.1m for a new Head to Health Kids Hub to improve access to multidisciplinary team care to children;
$5.7m to enhance two headspace centres to increase access to multidisciplinary youth mental health service;
$9.3m to establish universal after-care services, meaning all Territorians who are discharged from hospital following a suicide attempt will receive immediate follow up care. Two trial sites will also be established for after-care services for people who have experienced a suicidal crisis without being admitted to hospital;
$1.3m to ensure people who are bereaved or impacted by suicide can access postvention support services; and,
$3m to support for peri-natal mental health screening.
NT Primary Health Network chief executive Gillian Yearsley welcomed the funding.
“We’ll be working with our colleagues across all of those sectors to develop community responses to the ongoing needs being expressed in our community around mental health and suicide,” Ms Yearsley said.
“We know that universal after-care is an area that will be targeted – in this way we’ll become much more focused on supporting people who have experienced concerns around self-harm or have expressed suicidal ideation.
“And following them up after an episode in hospital in a much more active way will be a priority.
She said the facility would be working in partnership in youth mental health services in Head Spaces and looking to expand those services and further engage with them effectively in the community.
“I’d like to encourage you to visit the centres that are around you in the community and engage with the really wonderful practitioners we have here,” Ms Yearlsey said.
Health Minister Natasha Fyles said the funding would support a range of programs across the NT, based within the community, in partnership with non-government organisations and the Aboriginal medical services.
“We thank the commonwealth government,” Ms Fyles said.
“So there’ll be additional funds for two new Head to Health spaces for adults, we’ll see investment into kids and we’ll also see continuation of services such as the headspace program we already have in the Territory.
“I thank the primary health network who are our key partner with this.”
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