December 2003 Ministerial reshuffle In the December 2003 ministerial reshuffle sparked by the axing of Health Minister Jane Aagaard, Vatskalis was severely demoted, losing all his portfolios except Ethnic Affairs, and being given the new responsibilities of Mines and Energy and Primary Industries and Fisheries.
Although the reshuffle had seen Vatskalis demoted, the new portfolios allowed him to move away from the areas in which he had been under siege. In his new portfolio, he signed several new resource exploration permits and launched several programs attempting to promote the Northern Territory to mining companies, in the hope of boosting the industry. He launched a significant shakeup of mining laws, blocked proposals to create a second mine in the Kakadu National Park, and oversaw the proposal to clean up the environmental damage from the abandoned Mount Todd gold mine, near Alice Springs. Vatskalis also won favour from the recreational fishing community, banning commercial fishing in the Adelaide River and rejecting proposals to introduce fishing licenses in the Territory.
In early 2005, Vatskalis caused some controversy by making a joke at a party referring to the sexuality of CLP member John Elferink, which was widely reported as having referred to the abuse Elferink suffered as a child - and which had been the subject of a series of incidents concerning Vatskalis' fellow ALP minister, Chris Burns. The comments led Elferink to allege that there was a concerned effort by ALP members to harass him over the disclosure. Not long after, however, Vatskalis also found himself the victim of an insensitive comment, when Opposition Leader Denis Burke suggested that Vatskalis repeat the phrase "fishing is the lure of the Territory". The jibe was widely reported as having been targeted at Vatskalis' Greek accent, and the Northern Territory News suggested that it could ultimately cost Burke hundreds of votes in Darwin's multicultural community.
Vatskalis faced his first electoral test at the 2005 election, and despite having won the seat from the CLP for the first time ever in 2001, was easily elected with a massive swing in his favour, amidst a landslide result across the Territory.
[edit] New Portfolio The latest cabinet reshuffle on 4 February 2009 has seen Vatskalis take the Government's Health portfolio from Dr Chris Burns while remaining the Minister for Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources.
former Minister Chris Natt:
Chris Natt From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Chris Natt is a former Australian politician and Australian rules footballer with Port Adelaide Football Club.
A ruckman, Natt played 216 games for Port Adelaide between 1972 and 1983. Following his retirement from football, Natt coached in South Australia before moving to the Northern Territory to take up the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Northern Territory Football League. Natt was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly as the Australian Labor Party representative for the electorate of Drysdale at the 2005 Territory election, recording a swing of 17.5% towards him.
Following his election, Natt served as the Minister for Mines and Energy until his defeat at the 2008 Northern Territory election.
Natt's brother Greg also played football for Port Adelaide.
SA NT talk up investment opportunities with China Thursday, 27 November 2008, Kristie Batten WHILE foreign investment may not always be encouraged, the Northern Territory and South Australian governments are both taking steps to actively seek Chinese partnerships in the mineral industry, acknowledging the spin-off benefits for junior miners, fledgling projects and future exports. Both governments recognise the importance China has had in the mining boom and have marketed themselves to the Asian nation as attractive places of investment. The recent RESOURCESTOCKS 2008 World Risk Survey ranked South Australia and the Northern Territory as the second and fifth least riskiest places in the world for mineral exploration investment, based on factors such as sovereign risk, civil unrest, natural disasters and labour relations. In 2007, the NT government launched its four-year $12 million China Minerals Investment Attraction Scheme, established with the vision of attracting five major Chinese investments of at least $50 million to the Territory by 2011. Earlier this month, NT Resources Minister Kon Vatskalis travelled to Beijing and addressed the Australia-China Mineral Investment Exploration Seminar and the annual China Mining Congress, attended by around 15,000 delegates. It was the third visit to China by a Northern Territory minister since the scheme began in July 2007. Representatives from Territory explorers Emmerson Resources, Energy Metals, Territory Uranium and TNG accompanied Vatskalis on the visit. TNG’s flagship exploration project is the Manbarrum lead-zinc-silver project in the Territory and exploration director Paul Burton made the trip to China. Burton said the visit marked the beginning of a new strategy for the company and that it was extremely well organised. “There were several meetings arranged by the department for us that they’d lined up already, and attending the investment seminar and the China Mining Congress gave us the opportunity to meet other companies,” he told MiningNewsPremium.net. Burton said TNG had a good response and there are ongoing discussions with Chinese parties. Drilling at Cairn Hill “It was very rewarding and I anticipate further trips and some alignment with China.” In October, Vatskalis hosted a function for around 20 Chinese investors in Beijing. During the same visit, China Development Bank and the Northern Territory government signed a memorandum of understanding to encourage Chinese investment in Territory mineral projects. Last week, Arafura Resources announced a MoU had been signed with Inner Mongolia Bao Tou Steel Rare Earth Hi-Tech Co, the world’s largest producer of rare earth products. The deal will allow the two companies to exchange information as Arafura moves towards production at its Nolans rare earth project in the NT. Other companies working in partnership with the Chinese on mineral projects in the Territory include Thor Mining and CITIC at the Molyhil tungsten-molybdenum project and the Compass Resources-Hunan Nonferrous Metals Corporation joint venture at the recently-commissioned Browns Oxide copper project. Hunan has a 4.4% stake in Compass and has contributed $72 million towards project development. South Australia is also enjoying Chinese investment in its resource projects, with Ironclad Mining the latest company to ink a development deal. Earlier this week, Ironclad announced a MoU had been signed with Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation of China, the fifth-largest steel maker in China. Under the deal, the Chinese company will fund development of Ironclad’s Eyre Peninsula projects through to the completion of a bankable feasibility study, after which an equal joint venture will be formed. Ironclad non-executive director Ian Finch just returned from China and said he saw little evidence of a slowdown. “We were actually getting, and still are getting, large amounts of interest,” he told MNp on Monday. Earlier this year, emerging iron ore producer IMX Resources signed a heads of agreement with Chinese steel group Tonghua Mining over the sale of 100% of magnetite-copper production from the company’s Cairn Hill project near Coober Pedy. The deal saw Tonghua take a 9.5% stake in the company and the Chinese steel group is building a plant in China to process the Cairn Hill ore. Another up and coming mine in South Australia is the Crocker Well uranium project – a joint venture between PepinNini Minerals and China’s Sinosteel. Crocker Well, which is 60% owned by Sinosteel, is set to be in production by 2011
ARU, TNG, TNG are strong buys, since even the new minister continues th epolicy of promoting Arafura, Thor Mining, and TNG to Chinese !!!!!
ARU Price at posting:
32.0¢ Sentiment: ST Buy Disclosure: Not Held
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