Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro was aware of the under-reporting of crime and delays to accurate police crime statistics two years ago, while also knowing the stats collected since December 2023 could not be compared to previous years because of changes to the NT Police’s IT system, a transcript of 2024 Budget Estimates hearings reveals.
The Office of the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption received 230 more allegations of corruption and misconduct last financial year than it expected – making a total of 530 – but only had seven investigations on foot as of June 30, while the ICAC Inspector appears to have relied solely on the office’s annual report to monitor its work over the year, raising questions about what was achieved under two acting commissioners for the last year.
One of three people who determines the pay and benefits of the NT’s politicians and local councillors publicly called the Palmerston Mayor a “horny old toad” on ABC Radio Monday morning, adding that Athina Pascoe-Bell has “greedy little hands” and warning her to expect a “bloody big fight” over proposed changes to council boundaries despite the tribunal member’s obligation to remain impartial.
EXCLUSIVE: Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro’s husband and senior public servant Sam Burke said he wanted to “plow” his car into a group of Palestinian supporters at a peaceful Darwin protest in 2024, the NT Independent can reveal, with the pair hiring a Sydney lawyer to threaten legal action against this publication.
The Federal Labor Government has made good on its threat to divert funding from the NT Government to community organisations over concerns the Finocchiaro CLP Government is failing to deliver for Indigenous Territorians, moving to divert $80 million through a Closing the Gap program to the NT’s Aboriginal peak body.
The CLP moved to condemn Labor MLA Chansey Paech in Parliament Thursday for criticising the government over the death of Kumanjayi Little Baby, following the release of a report into the department’s handling of the case, while Labor accused the Children and Families Minister of leaking sensitive information to a favoured media outlet that could cause issues for the upcoming murder trial.
Children and Families Minister Robyn Cahill prioritised changing child protection laws over the past two years to suit her party’s ideology while ignoring her department’s culpability in failing to keep children safe, NAAJA says, while the co-author of the report that identified the department’s extensive failings says she is “very confident” action will occur within the next six months, with other groups warning reforms will reduce the threshold to remove children by an already overwhelmed department.
A report into the NT Department of Children and Families’ handling of the case of a five-year-old girl who was allegedly abducted and murdered earlier this year has found multiple failures by the department, including that child “safety plans” are not adequately monitored and that the case of Kumanjayi Little Baby was not an isolated failing in the department rife with leadership shortcomings and no accountability.
The CLP Government has rejected a motion in Parliament calling for a moratorium on data centres until a public inquiry can investigate their impact, with a Labor MLA warning the CLP is not listening to Territorians at their own peril, specifically in the rural area where the CLP is contradicting its “rural lifestyle” rhetoric by backing a major proposed data centre without consulting residents about its impacts.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government will follow other states’ lead by mandating that the Darwin Private Hospital operator provide maternity services by law, but the move comes 16 months after the services stopped because the government failed to act on advice that it legislate for it at the time. An obstetrician has also warned it will now take at least two years for the services to return.
More in-fighting in Territory Labor has led to mixed messaging about whether the Opposition will support independent MLA Justine Davis’ gambling reform bill that will be introduced to Parliament this week, which proposes strengthened conflicts of interest rules for NT wagering commission members, banning inducements to problem gamblers and introducing stronger penalties for operators that fail to meet their obligations.
High-profile federal politicians and community health groups have backed independent NT MLA Justine Davis’ move to introduce reforms to the Territory’s gambling regulations, that she says currently put industry profits over people through an NT-based regulator with weak conflict of interest controls and lax regulations that cause harm across the country.
