The Hon Chansey Paech was sworn in as the first ever Min­is­ter for Desert Knowl­edge Aus­tralia on 4 May 2022, fol­low­ing an ear­li­er announce­ment from the Office of the Chief Minister.

Desert Knowl­edge Aus­tralia (DKA) is a statu­to­ry cor­po­ra­tion of the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry, estab­lished in 2003 to facil­i­tate learn­ing, research, socioe­co­nom­ic devel­op­ment and envi­ron­men­tal sus­tain­abil­i­ty in Cen­tral Australia.

This is the first ever min­is­te­r­i­al appoint­ment for DKA, which recog­nis­es its sig­nif­i­cant con­tri­bu­tions, cre­at­ing eco­nom­ic oppor­tu­ni­ties and deliv­er­ing projects for the peo­ple, com­mu­ni­ties and organ­i­sa­tions of the region.

Grow­ing up in Cen­tral Aus­tralia, Min­is­ter Paech saw the val­ue and poten­tial of DKA, and said, ​“Desert Knowl­edge Aus­tralia is an impor­tant asset that facil­i­tates learn­ing, research, socioe­co­nom­ic devel­op­ment and envi­ron­men­tal sus­tain­abil­i­ty across Cen­tral Australia.

“This facil­i­ty deliv­ers projects of ben­e­fit to Cen­tral Aus­tralia that focus on renew­able ener­gy, desert lead­er­ship, dig­i­tal inno­va­tion, and desert research.

“I am proud to be the first Min­is­ter for Desert Knowl­edge Aus­tralia and look for­ward to fos­ter­ing eco­nom­ic devel­op­ment and desert lead­er­ship as well as pro­gress­ing the strate­gic plan and key projects.”

DKA’s strate­gic focus areas are strong­ly aligned with the NT Government’s vision for Cen­tral Aus­tralia, which will fos­ter a mutu­al­ly sup­port­ive part­ner­ship between DKA and the NT Gov­ern­ment to advance the pro­gress­ing land­scape of the Red Centre.

This new port­fo­lio will fur­ther the mul­ti-dis­ci­pli­nary ini­tia­tives incu­bat­ed at DKA, and sup­port high­er pri­ori­ti­sa­tion and vis­i­bil­i­ty for Cen­tral Aus­tralia through DKA to the Min­is­ter and the NT Government.

“Desert Knowl­edge Aus­tralia wel­comes the announce­ment of its first ever ded­i­cat­ed Min­is­ter, and are hon­oured at the recog­ni­tion of its con­tri­bu­tion to Cen­tral Aus­tralia by the NT Gov­ern­ment. The Board and CEO are look­ing for­ward to work­ing more close­ly with the Min­is­ter for Desert Knowl­edge Aus­tralia Chansey Paech and the NT Gov­ern­ment over the com­ing years, as we align DKA’s strate­gic direc­tion with the Territory’s future,” said DKA Inter­im Chair Chris Fry.

DKA and Min­is­ter Paech will work togeth­er to progress the peo­ple, com­mu­ni­ties and organ­i­sa­tions of Cen­tral Australia.