Chief Minister Michael Gunner ‘more excited than ever’ about HyperOne project after meeting with Bevan Slattery

A meeting with a millionaire tech entrepreneur has left Chief Minister Michael Gunner “more excited than ever” about the impacts of a $1.5bn data superhighway project on Darwin and the NT. Mr Gunner confirmed he met with Brisbane tech wunderkid Bevan Slattery on Wednesday to discuss the businessman’s HyperOne project. MORE: Exclusive: Beetaloo, Middle Arm, other NT projects make national priority list New mineral royalty laws dubbed ‘tax grab’ by industry will remove ability for miners to score discount ‘The market for well presented established houses is red hot’: Home sells for more than $1.1m Set to cost $1.5bn, it is the largest private digital infrastructure project of its kind and involves building more than 20,000km of new fibre network to connect major data hubs in every capital city across the country for the first time. Mr Gunner said the project could “turbocharge” growth in the Territory’s strong industries, like agriculture, Defence, gas and renewables. “All roads on this super highway will lead to, or through, Darwin. We will be the key point of digital interconnect across Australia and north to Asia,” he said. “But Darwin will also become the logical base for new industries and jobs. Think massive data centres, digital industries and space.” Mr Slattery has also been briefing Darwin businesses and Defence about HyperOne. “The Northern Territory has some of the most extraordinary assets in the region. It has unbelievable access to massive amounts of solar energy, reliable gas energy, plentiful land,” Mr Slattery said. “There is unprecedented opportunity for it to become the region’s leading, secure and stable hub for future industries and jobs … give it the true connectivity and this can happen.”