Trade and Business Minister Robyn Cahill, who pitched the Northern Territory as the “data centre capital of the globe”, was in Texas last month on a trade mission when the state’s Republican Governor ordered a sudden moratorium on data centres, citing the need to investigate environmental impacts and ordering no further government incentives because “Texans must come first”, but Ms Cahill’s office has refused to say what she learned on the taxpayer-funded trip.
The prosecution’s case against Federal Labor MP Luke Gosling for the alleged assault of the Administrator could see five foreign officials from the Thai embassy dragged into the legal fight, which the defence argued could clear Mr Gosling, but the officials may invoke “diplomatic immunity”, the court heard Wednesday afternoon.
The Attorney-General and head public servant were provided a shortlist of candidates for the top executive position in the Attorney-General’s Department back in April, but took no action to interview any of the candidates before quietly appointing the acting executive to the permanent role last week while failing to explain why the proper recruitment process was initiated but not followed for the key position.
A Sydney-based lawyer who was involved in the Eddie Obeid corruption case has been engaged by the NT DPP to prosecute Federal MP Luke Gosling’s criminal assault matter after Commonwealth prosecutors rejected the case last month, amid the acting NT DPP’s move to avoid a “perceived conflict of interest” in the matter.
ANALYSIS: Fifteen months ago, Territory Labor Leader Selena Uibo was handed a review of the party’s crushing 2024 election defeat prepared by the national executive, which she promptly hid and refused to make public. Today, the NT Independent can reveal the contents of that report show the party has yet to fully come to terms with why Territorians booted it from office and failed to learn any lessons from one of the worst political defeats in Territory history.
The NT’s acting Chief Judge was forced to issue an extraordinary “correction” earlier this week after an email from the courts’ deputy registrar stated there would be no new Local Court judges appointed “in the foreseeable future” necessitating cancelled court lists in an already over-stretched system, which kicked off allegations in legal circles that the CLP Government had rejected the appointment of new judges on the grounds that their alleged politics did not align with the ruling party’s.
Former NT Police assistant commissioner Janelle Tonkin has taken aim at the NT Police Force’s toxic culture, after her official police picture was altered with AI to make it sexually suggestive and shared amongst an unknown number of officers, saying the police force has “real work to do” to make it safe and respectful for women and minorities.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government will relocate residents of the Batten Road YiSSA transitional housing facility to Batchelor as part of a costly plan that will see a new repurposed demountable facility built that will also accommodate remote flood evacuees, but the decision has irked Batchelor residents and its local council who say the government did not consult with anyone there before announcing the “bad idea”.
The shock departure of Department of Children and Families chief executive Brent Warren comes amid delays in court proceedings due to confusion in the department over controversial new child removal laws, while Minister Robyn Cahill’s office has refused to answer questions or explain why Mr Warren suddenly left the role last week, less than a year after she appointed him.
Labor’s Yiwarr McGrath has defeated independent candidate Andrew Blamey to win the Mulka by-election Saturday night, bringing the party’s total number of MLAs in NT Parliament to six after the 2024 election wipeout saw it reduced to just four bush members, but the new member enters a divided Labor parliamentary caucus.
NT Department of Children and Families chief executive Brent Warren has left the role suddenly, less than a year after being appointed by Minister Robyn Cahill with no explanation provided, which comes amid massive turmoil and controversy in the department.
The NT News’ coverage of gas development in the Beetaloo Sub-basin was the focus of national scrutiny Monday night as Media Watch criticised the newspaper’s reporting as “cheerleading for gas companies and the government” that has repeatedly failed to provide the whole picture, while noting the paper takes in untold amounts of advertising money from industry and the CLP Government. All of it has raised questions over whose interests the newspaper is serving.
