The Labor Opposition Leader’s office paid Michael Gunner’s brother-in-law more than an MLA earns to help develop policy for the party shortly before he took an oil and gas lobbyist role earlier this year, the NT Independent can reveal, while the Opposition Leader has refused to explain if proper procurement processes were followed for the secret consultant job paid for by taxpayers.
St John Ambulance NT contributed to the deaths of two elderly Darwin residents due to massive delays in ambulance services arriving when they fell in separate incidents, with both waiting on the floor for more than five hours for medical assistance despite being prioritised, the Coroner has found.
CLP Minister Steve Edgington has publicly said he will not run for One Nation at the next federal election in the Territory when asked on Wednesday, but the NT Independent can reveal he engaged in talks with a senior party figure about leaving the Finocchiaro CLP Government to have a tilt with Pauline Hanson’s party. Mr Edgington’s advances are likely to destabilise leadership and relationships within Cabinet two years into the CLP’s term, a party source said.
Voluntary assisted dying legislation passed Parliament last night, three decades after it was first legalised, but amendments to remove restrictive clauses including the 12-month prognosis timeframe and the doctor gag clause were blocked by the CLP majority.
The Country Liberal Party has not nominated a candidate for the upcoming Mulka by-election which it dismissed Thursday as a “disruption” that will now be a contest between Labor’s candidate Yiwarr McGrath and surprise independent candidate Andrew Blamey.
UPDATED: The planning and development of data centres across the Northern Territory should be immediately halted until Territorians “know exactly what they are signing up for”, an independent MLA says, while the Labor Opposition moved a motion in Parliament Wednesday calling for an independent inquiry into the controversial projects.
Federal Labor Member for Solomon Luke Gosling has stood down from his role in the Albanese Government as special envoy for Defence, Veterans’ Affairs and Northern Australia citing “ongoing media attention” that has become a distraction to the business of government, which follows a breach of bail charge laid against him related to ongoing allegations he assaulted the NT Administrator.
The Territory’s MLAs wrestled with their personal beliefs and their duty to their constituents with plenty of tears shed while debating the proposed Rights of the Terminally Ill Bill in Parliament on Tuesday, a bill that is expected to ultimately see the NT regain its voluntary assisted dying rights this week after losing them 30 years ago.
UPDATED: Federal Labor MP Luke Gosling has been charged with breach of bail in relation to the ongoing allegations he assaulted Administrator David Connolly, NT Police said, with Mr Gosling’s office saying he intends to defend the new charge.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has shot back at members of her own party, vowing not to support proposed reforms to the Rights of the Terminally Ill Bill that would see the doctor “gag clause” and the 12-month terminal prognosis conditions removed, while guaranteeing her legislation will pass this week in Parliament.
NT director of building control Mark Meldrum personally blocked the public release of government documents sought through a Freedom of Information application that likely would have exposed why his flawed investigation of structural defects at the Kube Apartments building was taking two-and-a-half years, documents obtained by the NT Independent reveal, which created a blatant conflict of interest that two government departments have refused to explain.
EXCLUSIVE: The Northern Territory’s director of building control Mark Meldrum failed in his duty to properly enforce the NT’s building laws, a new complaint obtained by the NT Independent has alleged, while never-before-seen documents appear to show Mr Meldrum ignored evidence of wrongdoing by the builder of a flawed Darwin CBD apartment complex and shut down an investigation he took two-and-a-half years to finalise before the facts could be reviewed by the regulatory body.
