Over 80 pipeliners gathered at the Hilton Darwin on Thursday 16 July for the APGA Darwin dinner.
Gary Barnes, Coordinator-General for Major Projects, Infrastructure and Investments, provided dinner guests with an overview of the background and vision for the approximately 1,000 km (depending on selected final route) NEGI.
Mr Barnes welcomed everyone to Darwin, and mentioned that it was great to have so many pipeliners up in the Territory to hear about what is happening in terms of pipeline development.
An anecdote about NEGI employees winning big at the recent Darwin races on a horse called “˜It’s a Pipedream’ drew a lot of laughs from the audience.
Mr Barnes took the audience through the status of this Northern Territory government-led initiative, and the next steps in the process, which include the Northern Territory Government currently seeking commercial proposals for the pipeline.
He spoke about the importance of key infrastructure projects like the NEGI for the continued development of the Northern Territory.
“Here in the Territory, there is an aspiration to make sure that this place goes forward, and forward it will go,” he said.
“There is a “˜can-do’ attitude in the Territory. It happens to be an attitude that both sides of politics embrace, and I can say almost with certainty that the pipeline that connects ourselves to the eastern seaboard will happen. It has bi-partisan support, it’s ahead of its time, and government has intervened to make something happen ahead of when it otherwise might have.”
The attentive crowd had lots of questions for Mr Barnes, and were keen to hear further on what was next for the NEGI project.
Mr Barnes finished by saying he was looking forward to welcoming the APGA back to Darwin for its Convention in 2018, when the NEGI is proposed for commissioning.
The evening was proudly sponsored by APA Group and Fyfe.