The Lord Mayor of Darwin has defended the launch of new surveillance capabilities in the region, after the nation’s smallest capital city just finished the fastest rollout of ‘smart city’ technologies in the country.

The $10 million “Switching on Darwin” project has rolled out more than 900 “smart” LED lights, 24 environmental sensors, parking sensors, free wi-fi and a network of 138 new CCTV cameras throughout the Darwin CBD.