Several stakeholders have expressed concern about the way the review of the Darwin Port Corporation Act and associated legislation may be carried out and the recommendations that could flow from it. A contract for the review is expected soon and will cost up to $500,000, according to the July 29 tender notice.
There is a feeling that certain vested interests and individuals , some with axes to grind, will attempt to bring about changes which will be detrimental to some present participants in port activities. One important group in particular suspects that the review will be used to try and “rule them out ” of a say in the running of the port.
It is said the NT Government is so “mesmerized “ by the proposed megabucks Inpex project with its huge impact on the port, harbour , environment , economy and the political survival of MLAs that it will go along with anything suggested in the review, without thinking of the consequences , especially in relation to the workforce. Little Darwin has been told that in its bedazzled state, the NT Government could be “hoodwinked” into accepting and backing adverse , anti -democratic changes.
A businessman opined that the reason why former DPC executive Michael Nesbit , who suddenly quit to return to his family in Melbourne after 18 months of a four year contract, had been rehired as a $1500 a day consultant by the Chief Minister’s Department , is that nobody locally is on top of the port big picture ramifications. Nesbit, we are told, is highly qualified , hard working ,has carried out some very detailed figuring in connection with the energy industry impact and requirements on the port, and he and his family holidayed in the south of France with another DPC family. The businessman mused that Nesbit is so knowledgeable about the port, it would be desirable for him to be involved in some way in the $500,000 review .
Dissatisfaction with the present running of the DPC is reflected in recent media reports calling for an inquiry into the running of the agency. While on the subject of the DPC , the Bushranger column in the Sunday Territorian, under the heading Bullying probe , said DPC head ,Robert Ritchie, responding to allegations by Maritime Union Australia NT organiser, Thomas Mayor, that there were complaints about the treatment of personnel , has semaphored he will not tolerate bullying or harassment in the workplace.
There is a feeling that certain vested interests and individuals , some with axes to grind, will attempt to bring about changes which will be detrimental to some present participants in port activities. One important group in particular suspects that the review will be used to try and “rule them out ” of a say in the running of the port.
It is said the NT Government is so “mesmerized “ by the proposed megabucks Inpex project with its huge impact on the port, harbour , environment , economy and the political survival of MLAs that it will go along with anything suggested in the review, without thinking of the consequences , especially in relation to the workforce. Little Darwin has been told that in its bedazzled state, the NT Government could be “hoodwinked” into accepting and backing adverse , anti -democratic changes.
A businessman opined that the reason why former DPC executive Michael Nesbit , who suddenly quit to return to his family in Melbourne after 18 months of a four year contract, had been rehired as a $1500 a day consultant by the Chief Minister’s Department , is that nobody locally is on top of the port big picture ramifications. Nesbit, we are told, is highly qualified , hard working ,has carried out some very detailed figuring in connection with the energy industry impact and requirements on the port, and he and his family holidayed in the south of France with another DPC family. The businessman mused that Nesbit is so knowledgeable about the port, it would be desirable for him to be involved in some way in the $500,000 review .
Dissatisfaction with the present running of the DPC is reflected in recent media reports calling for an inquiry into the running of the agency. While on the subject of the DPC , the Bushranger column in the Sunday Territorian, under the heading Bullying probe , said DPC head ,Robert Ritchie, responding to allegations by Maritime Union Australia NT organiser, Thomas Mayor, that there were complaints about the treatment of personnel , has semaphored he will not tolerate bullying or harassment in the workplace.
No word has yet been heard about the call by independent Gerry Wood MLA and Thomas Mayor for an inquiry into the DPC. It used to be basic journalistic practice that when such calls are made , you automatically seek a response from those named and relevant minister /ministers.
