Business bulletin: 10 February 2022

Territory small businesses that have suffered a downturn in trade during the Omicron COVID-19 wave can now access support under the Business Hardship Register.

The support package is designed to help reduce the costs to keep local businesses open and operating and to ensure Territorians say in jobs and continue working.

Eligible businesses are those who have experienced a 40% reduction in turnover, and for the first 3 months of this year, they can apply to:

• have their payroll tax waived (payroll below $5 million) for January 2022 to March 2022 payroll tax return periods
• receive a one-off grant of $3,000 for employing businesses, and $1,000 for sole traders, and
• seek a reduction in regulated utility charges by 30% for January 2022 to March 2022.

The newly targeted hardship register will provide assistance to businesses that meet the following criteria. They must:

• be a Territory enterprise
• be actively trading with an annual turnover of at least $75,000 and less than $10 million
• demonstrate a 40% reduction in turnover in December 2021 or January 2022 compared to the equivalent period in 2019-20.

For more information and to apply, go to the Northern Territory Government website.

A safer, more reliable and more sustainable water supply in the Darwin region is a step closer with the completion of the Adelaide River Off-Stream Water Storage (AROWS) detailed business case.

The detailed business case investigated the 2 short-listed options identified in the preliminary assessment to meet the Darwin region’s future water supply requirements.

This included assessing market demand and infrastructure needs for the project to best support water security and economic development in the Darwin region.

After a comprehensive assessment, Manton Dam Return to Service (RTS) and AROWS were identified as the recommended infrastructure solutions, to be developed in 2 stages:

• Stage 1: Manton Dam Return to Service - short-term water supply with a development timeframe of 3 to 4 years, and
• Stage 2: AROWS - long-term water supply, with a development timeframe of 7 to 10 years.

Projects such as AROWS play an important role in ensuring water security for the Darwin region, it will also drive economic development in the Territory and create local jobs. The business case has provided detailed information needed to help support future water infrastructure investment in the region.

The Northern Territory Government has accepted the findings in the report and will continue to work closely with the Australian Government and the Northern Territory’s Power and Water Corporation to realise the opportunities that additional water supply can deliver.

Power and Water Corporation had identified AROWS as the preferred water source in its Darwin Region Water Supply Strategy and has already undertaken significant preliminary work to inform the design and delivery of the project.

The Territory Government is working with Power and Water to progress project development for both projects.

For Manton Dam RTS, this includes detailed design of the infrastructure components, further stakeholder engagement, and assessment of the environmental and social impacts of the project.

For AROWS, this includes commencement of a range of activities that will support development of the project. These include a water allocation plan for the Adelaide River catchment, an environment impact assessment, stakeholder engagement and community consultation, and concept design of the infrastructure components.

The Australian Government provided $2 million to fully fund the AROWS detailed business case under the $3.5 billion National Water Grid Fund, which is improving Australia’s water security while creating jobs and boosting economic activity.

For more information on the detailed business case, go to the Water Security website.

For more information on the Australian Government’s investments under the National Water Grid Fund, go to the Australian Government’s National Water Grid Authority website.

The first phase of a global digital marketing campaign to attract skill workers to the Territory commenced earlier this month.

Delivered over 12 months, the first phase includes a 6 week marketing burst designed to raise the profile of the Territory and promote it as a desirable and attractive place to live, work and do business.

With increased competition Australia-wide, the campaign marks the first milestone in a significant push to attract skilled workers to the Territory this year.

The Territory has a long and proud history of migration and interstate and overseas national and they have played an important role in meeting the Territory’s workforce needs and are a key contributor to economic growth, population growth and social diversity.

The campaign will target skilled and semi-skilled workers in Australia (New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia), Singapore, Switzerland, New Zealand and London. The campaign will run across a combination of channels including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and YouTube.

Access to and retention of a suitably skilled workforce is a key issue for many employers in the Territory. With the COVID-19 pandemic there are renewed challenges in workforce recruitment and retention.

The Northern Territory Government continues to work closely with industry to understand their work demands and recruitment challenges. A list of targeted industries are identified below:

• automotive industry targeting: mechanic, automotive repair, auto mechanic
• hospitality industry targeting: chef, sous chef, head chef, restaurant managers, barista, cafe owner, hotel manager, restaurant owner
• education industry targeting: university teacher, university tutor, early childhood educator, early childhood teacher, primary teacher
• community industry targeting: community health worker, community support worker, social worker, personal support worker, support worker
• health industry workers: registered nurses, clinical nurses, community health worker, psychologist, clinical psychologist, dentist
• construction and manufacturing industry workers: carpenters, electricians, welders, construction foreman, metal worker, plumbing, building construction contractor
• veterinarians.

For more information about migrating, living and working in the Territory, go to The Territory website.

Watch the video.

Territorians are invited to guide the future of the Territory’s agribusiness and aquaculture sectors through public consultation.

The Territory Government has spent the past several months engaging with industry and key stakeholders to develop strategic priorities for public feedback.

These draft strategic priorities were developed with land councils and industry. They aim to form a clear, co-designed, whole-of-sector strategic plan for agribusiness and aquaculture that drives economic growth and identifies synergies for further collaboration.

More work is underway concurrently with land councils and industry to identify specific actions.

The strategic priorities ‘have your say’ process closes at 5pm on Friday 25 February 2022.

Find out more about agribusiness in the Northern Territory on The Territory website.

To view and provide feedback on the draft strategy, go to the Have Your Say website.

Three mines in the Top End are on track to restart operation following the awarding of major project status to the Mount Bundy Gold Project.

It is estimated the $412 million project will generate $1.78 billion in operating expenditure over the life of the project.

The Mount Bundy Gold Project proposes to restart 3 mines - Tom’s Gully, Rustlers Roost and Quest 29, which are approximately 100km south east of Darwin, via the Arnhem Highway.

Managing director and chief executive officer of Primary Gold, Dr Mark Qui, said “we are very pleased the Northern Territory Government as awarded major project status to the Mount Bundy Gold Project. It is a great achievement for Primary Gold, its shareholders and the Northern Territory.

“The awarding of major project status distinguishes the Mount Bundy Gold Project as an attractive investment ready development in a mining friendly jurisdiction, with all major authorisations received or well advanced in the approval process.”

Construction will create 150 jobs over 18 months, and operations are expected to create 300 full‑time jobs for 10 years.

Mining construction is expected to commence in 2023, once the regulatory approvals process has been completed and a final investment decision has been made.

The operations will include the mines, a process plant and a camp. The proposed plant and mining operation will produce gold doré ingots.

Major project status will formally recognise the Mount Bundy Gold Project’s significance through its contribution to economic growth, productivity, employment and industry development on the Northern Territory.