18 — Centralian Advocate, Friday, December 13, 2013

NEWS

Opposition leader heads toJapan for Ichthys supportLEADER of the OppositionDelia Lawrie is in Tokyo thisweek to continue her long-standing relationship withthe Ichthys project owners,INPEX, and their primecontractor JGC.

She is taking the oppor-tunity to meet again withinvestors Bank of Tokyo -Mitsubishi and the Ministryof Energy, Trade and Indus-try (METI), and the JapanAustralia Business Cooper-ation Committee to discusstheir conference in Darwinin October 2014.

‘‘It is important that Icontinue to show bipartisansupport for the Ichthys pro-ject and pursue real benefitsflowing out of this invest-ment for Territorians,’’ MsLawrie said.

‘ ‘The advantage ofenduring relationships inthe years of delivering the$34 billion Ichthys projectgives me the opportunity toraise issues on behalf ofTerritorians.’’

Terry Mills was replacedas the chief minister whilein Japan in May.

Creek post office getshelping hand to stay openA team of Australia Postworkers are keeping theTennant Creek post officeopen with services to beb a c k t o n o r m a l b yMonday.

A n A u s t r a l i a P o s tspokesperson said theirworkers are managing thepost office until they canfind a new licensee.

‘‘Normal operating hourswill also resume underAustralia Post manage-ment,’’ they said.

The Centralian Advocatereported last week that theprevious licensee had noti-fied Australia Post theywould no longer operatethe business from Decem-ber 12.

‘‘Australia Post remainscommitted to providingservices to residents ofTennant Creek and willmaintain a postal presencein the community until wefind an alternative ar-r a n g e m e n t , ’ ’ t h espokesperson said.

Greens go after Gonskieducation fund changesSTUDENTS in NorthernTerritory’s country schoolswill continue to be disadvan-taged if the Gonski schoolfunding scheme is not ade-quately implemented,Greens have said.

In a motion put by Aust-ralian Greens spokespersonfor schools Senator PennyWright, it was confirmedextra funding was neededfor kids in country schoolsto reach the same level ascity students.

‘‘Christopher Pyne’s no-strings-attached backflip

means the extra money isnow not guaranteed to getto students in the bush,’’Senator Wright said.

‘‘Today the Greens, withthe support of Labor, passeda motion through the Sen-ate calling. . . to implementthe school funding modeldesigned by the Gonskipanel as the best way to liftstudent performance in ru-ral areas. The AustralianGreens believe students inthe NT’s rural areas deservethe same opportunities askids in Darwin.’’

Mordor similes heat up

Alice Springs Town Council CEO gets into the Lord of the Rings spirit Picture: BARRY SKIPSEY

ENVIRONMENT REPORTER

Sarah Rohweder

FORGET about New Zealand, ifyou want an authentic Lord of theRings experience look no furtherbecause Alice Springs has beennamed among three places withsimilar heat conditions to Mordor.

Although the town is yet to pro-duce exploding volcanos, fiery pitsand a constant haze of ash, twoexperts from the University ofBristol in England have suggestedthe climate conditions are muchthe same.

The report, which was originallyintended to be a ‘‘bit of fun’’,analysed the desert-like conditionsof Alice Springs and compared it tothe box office film, finding a clearconnection based on the harsh,dry heat.

Professor Richard Pancost, fromthe university, said the pair wereable to simulate the location andmake accurate comparisonsthrough multiple features.

‘‘Because climate models arebased on fundamental scientificprocesses, they are able not only tosimulate the climate of the modernEarth, but can also be easilyadapted to simulate any planet, realor imagined, so long as the under-lying continental positions andheights, and ocean depths, areknown.’’

Arid Lands Environment Centredirector Jimmy Cocking saidalthough the immediate compari-son to Mordor may not be positive,there were other aspects of the townthat could be a good link to the film.

‘‘Mordor is the place of Sauronwhich is basically the height of evilso it’s not a great perception of AliceSprings, however, we do have PineGap which could be compared toSauron’s all-seeing eye, but youcan’t really compare fantasy withreality,’’ he said.

‘‘Overall, I think it’s a great thingfor Alice Springs to be put on themap because this story has goneglobal, but the key is for us to ensurethe perception of Mordor is not areflection of what the desert isreally like because this place is fullof creativity, culture, and peoplewho love living here.’’

Lord of the Rings fan Sam

Blacker said the study providedtourism opportunities if effectivelymarketed.

‘‘The main part of Mordor wassurrounded by mountain ranges,which you could compare to theMcDonnell Ranges, although itwould be bad for tourism if peoplegoing over the ranges here encoun-tered a giant spider,’’ he said.

‘‘If the story was marketed prop-erly then it would be a great thingfor Alice Springs [because] Air NewZealand repeatedly do marketingads that give the impression you areentering Middle Earth, so I’m sureyou could do the same here.’’

The simulation was made using amodel used to predict trends inglobal warming.

BossesstretchtheirpotentialNORTHERN Territory em-ployers were stretched tothe limit when they came upagainst Australian DefenceForce Reservists in a pro-gram called Exercise Execu-tive Stretch this month.

More than 18 bosses joinedthe program, which puttheir skills to the test, includ-ing Alice Springs TownCouncil CEO Rex Mooney.

Mr Mooney said the pro-gram was a great experienceand provided some valuablelearning techniques.

‘ ‘Exercise ExecutiveStretch was a great experi-ence and Ienjoyed everyminute,’’ he said.

‘‘It was well organised,professionally conductedand we learnt more aboutthe skills that a Reservistbring to our workplace.

‘‘I wholeheartedly recom-mend and endorse this ex-citing activity.

‘‘Mayor Damien Ryan haspreviously participated inthe Executive Stretch andenjoyed the experience.’’

The attendees partici-pated in a variety of militaryactivities including teambuilding exercises, Navywater craft operations, boatcapsize drills, military physi-cal training, RAAF air oper-ations, live fire range shootand much more.

The program was held atLarrakeyah Barracks, Rob-ertson Barracks and RAAFBase Darwin.

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