A senior NT public servant on an executive contract dishonestly claimed sick days while he was gambling at a casino, on fishing trips and golfing, which amounted to “corrupt conduct” the ICAC has found after a four-year long investigation, but chose not to name the executive or the government department involved.
The independence of the Northern Territory Auditor-General’s office has been identified as “the most vulnerable to executive influence” of any jurisdiction in the country, according to an independent review of the AG’s office, with the current public sector watchdog calling for funding pressures and internal system problems to be addressed by the Finocchiaro Government to ensure its crucial independence continues.
Staffers in former Labor chief minister Michael Gunner’s office used taxpayer money and resources to perform party political campaign work during the lead up to the 2020 NT election while knowing it was “inherently improper”, a new report by the Office of the ICAC has found, but again nobody has been held responsible. READ HOW THEY PULLED IT OFF
UPDATED: Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro appeared on Thursday to walk back from her $3 million election pledge to give long-serving NT Police officers a bonus to keep experienced cops on the beat, after being questioned about it in Parliament, but later said she was still “committed” to a bonus although it is unclear how it will work, how much it will cost and how much police officers will receive.
NT Parliament erupted into a public mud-slinging match on Wednesday afternoon, with politicians from both major political parties throwing their past indiscretions and scandals at one another during debate about “improving integrity in Parliament”.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government misled the public with taxpayer-funded radio ads promoting its Territory Coordinator position, the Auditor-General has found, which were carried out to promote “party political” ends and included misleading statements in breach of legislation.
The CLP Government’s new lobbyist register will not require ministers to publicly disclose who they meet with and will exempt major lobbyists, including gas companies fracking the Beetaloo Basin and other corporate firms that donate to political parties, from needing to be on the register, which a national public integrity body says is “just not right”.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has declared 2025 the “Year of Action”, laying out her government’s vision for the next 11 months, including its plans for economic growth, cutting crime and repairing the budget, suggesting that while her government was still investigating what measures from the Langoulant review into government spending it would adopt, the millions spent on consultancy companies was “unacceptable”.
CLP Education Minister Jo Hersey says she will now disclose the gift of a free luxury jet flight to a boozy brunch paid for by a wealthy Katherine businesswoman, after breaching the Disclosures Act by failing to report the gift, with the Opposition calling for the Minister to be reprimanded for flouting NT disclosure laws on multiple occasions.
The CLP Government is expected to announce it will change current legislation to permit “probationary” corrections officers into the job without having to complete current training requirements, a move criticised by the union as raising serious safety issues for the public and officers, while also taking the “first step towards privatisation” of the NT’s jails.
EXCLUSIVE: CLP Education Minister Jo Hersey took a luxury private jet between Katherine and Darwin to attend a boozy, “bottomless” high tea at the Hilton Garden Inn Darwin in early December, but she claims no taxpayer money was expended despite posting photos of the jaunt on her government-funded social media account, which comes as the Minister was also caught out misleading Territorians about her disclosable interests.
Jetstar will offer direct seasonal service between Darwin and the Gold Coast in late June, after receiving an undisclosed amount of taxpayer cash to operate the service.
