Northern Territory crocodile numbers have never been, and will never be, out of control, and instead of culling there needs to be more education, more warning signs, and tougher fines for people wilfully engaging in unsafe behaviour, writes PhD student Brandon Sideleau.
Australia’s imprisonment rate of Indigenous people is a domestic embarrassment which causes international condemnation and shame, and is shockingly expensive and ineffective, writes former Commonwealth and NT public servant Bob Beadman, as part of a broader analysis of legal and governance systems.
The escalation of youth crime we see in towns like Alice Springs is, in part, a consequence of the social breakdown in remote communities as a result of removing their local governance structures, and reinstating them can be the foundation upon which remote communities can rebuild into the future, writes Dr Liam Campbell.
Liz Holmes took her own life when she felt she had nothing to look forward to but pain and indignity because of her deteriorating health. Her daughter Sharon Cramp-Oliver writes that her mother would have used euthanasia if it had been available, a way of dying that will be available to everyone in Australia by November next year, except those living in the Northern Territory.
The 7th Duke of Manchester was at a revenge reprisal of Woolwonga people, ordered and armed by the South Australian government, but in an example of fanciful euphemistic language used to disguise the truth of frontier massacres, he wrote there was no rage of revenge shown, writes Dr Robyn Smith.
The NT’s legal “system” is a system no more. A 20-year descent into mediocrity has brought about its collapse which, although still able to operate by jailing Indigenous men, women and children at record accelerating levels, is essentially a broken shambles, writes John Lawrence.
From Darwin to Melbourne, Alessia Allfree says her journey of self discovery highlights the importance of LGBTQI+ representation. Now, as part of Australia’s most-followed LGBT couple, she advocates for visibility, inclusivity, and support for young people in regional areas.
The job of the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption is to find, consider, and weigh evidence, and come to a conclusion based on that evidence, however Michael Riches has clearly failed to live up to the requirements of the ICAC legislation and needs to be investigated by the Inspector for this breach, writes Dr Don Fuller.
ICAC and the Auditor-General’s evidence of Batchelor Institute’s serious failures raises the question of why the education of young Aboriginal people is being so severely compromised, in full view of responsible government agencies, Dr Don Fuller writes.
We need a different and innovative workforce plan to address both the NT’s serious occupational therapist shortage, and its particular needs, as to attract an appropriate workforce and deliver the required services, writes Occupational Therapy Australia CEO Samantha Hunter.
The Don Dale youth jail should be refurbished into low security, open style units, with gardens and workshops for female inmates, and with rehabilitation the aim rather than retribution, writes Greg Chapman.
Blaming the budget shortfall on the Health Department CEO’s “bad behaviour” demoralises an already burnt out workforce, and is an attempt to divert responsibility from both the Territory and federal Labor governments, writes the doctors’ union NT president Dr Tom Fowles.
