Business bulletin: 1 August 2025

The keynote speakers for October Business Month (OBM) have been revealed with two of Australia’s leading entrepreneurs headlining this year’s program.

OBM is the Northern Territory’s premier business event providing Territory businesses with a month-long professional development of inspirational and educational events.

This year Territory businesses will hear from:

Carolyn Creswell – inspirational leader, founder and CEO of Australia’s favourite brand, Carman’s.

Carolyn will share the inspiring story behind Carman’s — how she transformed a $1,000 muesli business into a global brand.

Covering growth milestones, leadership insights, strategic challenges, and brand building, she offers valuable lessons on resilience, innovation, culture, purpose, and work-life balance — sprinkled with candid reflections from over three decades in business.

Simon Griffiths - social entrepreneur, co-Founder and CEO of the eco-friendly toilet paper brand, Who Gives a Crap

Simon will share the Who Gives A Crap story of taking the company from an idea to more than $18m donated, including the viral crowdfunding campaign and growing the company at 2-3x year-on-year for almost 10 years. From there, he will share 10 key lessons learnt along the way.

Territory Success Stories (TSS) will continue to be showcased at keynote events. This year’s TSS include Anita Synnott, Anneliese Grazioli, Dan Richards, Laura-Jane Devlin, Paul Graham, Vicki-Leigh Lettice to name a few.

Early bird tickets for the keynote speaker events are now on sale by visiting the OBM website.

Eligible purchases during this period will go into the draw to win a trip to Dili, Timor-Leste, thanks to airline sponsor Airnorth.

The full OBM program will be released later in August.

Last week more than 100 investors and business leaders gained firsthand insights into the projects shaping the economic future of the Northern Territory at the inaugural InvestmeNT Summit.

Investors from around the world travelled to Darwin brining together companies from Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland, Vietnam, China, India, Kuwait, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The delegates participated in site tours and engagement activities across a range of sectors including energy, agriculture, defence, tourism, digital, mining and critical infrastructure

Major investment opportunities including the onshore Beetaloo Sub-basin, the emerging maritime repair and maintenance industry, new tourism ventures in the Litchfield region and large-scale developments at the Middle Arm Precinct were also showcased to investors.

The 3-day event wrapped up with a packed line up of speakers, presenters and panellists leading robust and engaging discussions about the Territory’s economic, strategic and commercial investment opportunities.

Key highlights from the program included a keynote presentation from former federal treasurer, Joe Hockey and a presentation from Alexander Smith, Google’s Principal Global Infrastructure and Energy.

The Investment Summit positioned the Northern Territory as a dynamic region full of potential and signalled to the world we are open for business.

The Northern Territory Government has established a new initiative to support high growth businesses and investment ready projects to establish or expand operations in the Territory.

The Territory Growth Initiative (TGI) is a contemporary and competitive investment vehicle that further enhances the Northern Territory’s position as a preferred destination for investment.

The TGI builds on past investment initiatives and capitalises on established robust policies and procedures to ensure investment opportunities are assessed through rigorous due diligence processes.

TGI offers three pathways of investors:

• Territory Infrastructure Loans (TIL):
  • Delivered with the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, providing concessional loans for infrastructure development.
• Paspalis Co-Investment Fund (PCF):
  • Supporting NT-based companies to grow, expand and create jobs, with investments up to $5 million focused on defence, agriculture and technology.
• Collaborative Investment Program (CIP):
  • Loans up to $10 million to help Territory businesses become investment ready or attract new businesses in energy, defence, agriculture, mining and tourism.

The Northern Territory Government has approved a $10 million concessional loan to Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa Signature Walk on commercial terms, unlocking a $22.8 million tourism boost for Central Australia.

The Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa Signature Walk, set to launch in time for the 2026 walking season will offer gusts an unforgettable five days and four nights of outback indulgence along 54km trail inside the World Heritage listed Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park.

Neil Lynch, Managing Director of Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa Signature Walk Pty Ltd said, 'We always knew we wanted to deliver a one-of-a-kind overnight hiking experience in the red centre …but bringing that vision to life requires significant upfront investment as well as government support.'

'Being supported by the Northern Territory Government’s Territory Growth Initiative, and the first recipient of their Collaborative Investment Program loan, was extremely valuable and enabled us to unlock lasting benefits for global adventurers and for Traditional Owners, who gain a platform to share their culture and country with the world.'

For more information about the Territory Growth Initiative, go to the Australia's Northern Territory website.

Artist impression of the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa Signature Walk accommodation

The Northern Territory Government has reaffirmed its strong relationship with Timor-Leste with a delegation travelling to Dili last week to advance economic and strategic ties under the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA).

The SPA recognises and reinforces the relationship between the Northern Territory and Timor-Leste and provides a framework to progress bilateral projects and initiatives.

A key action under the SPA is cooperation on crocodile management.

The Northern Territory Government, funded by the Australian Government, will partner with the Timor-Leste Government to develop a region-specific crocodile management program that will improve public health and safety outcomes in Timor-Leste.

Crocodiles are an important part of Timorese culture. The crocodile symbolises resilience, protection and an ancestral connection between the Timorese people and their land.

However, as the crocodile population continues to grow it is causing challenges for effective management.

The Northern Territory crocodile management program is recognised internationally as best-practice. The Territory Government will provide expertise, personnel and resources to help Timor-Leste implement a region-specific crocodile management plan.

During the delegation, the Northern Territory Government announced it will partner with the ASEAN-Australia Centre and Partnerships for Infrastructure and Electricidade de Timor-Leste to deliver the Empowerment Through Energy Internship program.

The internship program, which is also supported by the Australian Government will see 4 energy professionals from Timor-Leste undertake a 3-month internship with the Northern Territory Department of Mining and Energy.

The program will enable the interns to enhance their knowledge on designing inclusive and resilient infrastructure from examples of energy sector planning and implementation in the Northern Territory.

These learnings will support Timor-Leste’s goal of expanding clean, reliable and optimised electricity access, particularly in remote and under-serviced regions of the country.

The visit follows the signing of the Plan of Action on Healthcare Cooperation, which aims to provide training, skilling and collaboration opportunities across the healthcare sector between the Northern Territory and Timor-Leste.

Supporting these strategic collaborations creates opportunities and new pathways for Territory businesses to engage with Timor-Leste as its economy continues to grow.

The Tenders online website (QTOL) has undergone a recent upgrade and now includes a modern user interface optimised for mobile use.

This upgrade delivers a consistent experience and improved accessibility on desktops, tablets and mobile devices.

A series of free workshops will be held across the Territory to help support and upskill committee and board members of local incorporated associations.

The face-to-face workshops will be delivered by Matrix in August and September. The workshops will cover the following key topics:

• legal responsibilities of committee members
• roles and responsibilities of the committee
• the constitution
• dispute resolution
• running meetings
• financial oversight and obligations.

The workshops are part of the Northern Territory Department of Trade, Business and Asian Relations Governance Training program.

Register for a workshop in your region.

Katherine

14 August 9.00am - 12.00pm
Location Knotts Crossing Resort
Register for the Katherine section.

Palmerston

19 August 9.00am - 12.00pm
Location: Palmerston Recreation Centre
Register for the Palmerston's August Section.

1 September 5.30pm - 8.30pm
Location: Durack Arts Centre
Register for the Palmerston's September Section.

Alice Springs

19 August 9.00am - 12.00pm
Location: Central Australia Development
Register for the Alice Springs' 19 August section.

20 August 1.00pm - 4.00pm
Location: Central Australia Development
Register for the Alice Springs' 20 August section.