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.
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.
