Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has named former Palmerston CEO Luccio Cercarelli as the new head of the NT public service, an appointment that has left some scratching their heads, given Mr Cercarelli’s lack of experience in the NT Government and his contentious history with Territory developers.
The Finocchiaro Government has ordered a review into the Territory’s horse racing industry, while the Minister responsible has raised the prospect of increasing funding to the industry that is already receiving tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars annually, while suffering decreased attendance at events and substantial financial losses.
High-profile Darwin silk Jon Tippett is facing multiple charges after he allegedly crashed into the back of a police car while driving over the legal blood alcohol limit late last year, the NT Independent can reveal.
Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby has announced the appointment of three acting local court judges, including the lead prosecutor for the upcoming Matt Wright trial, but would not say if the appointments, that also include one of Mr Wright’s previous defence lawyers, would delay the high-profile case, while also refusing to comment on one of the surprise new judges’ connections to the Chief Minister and her husband.
Long-time NT public servant Greg Shanahan, who conducted a secret review of the ICAC Act for Labor two years ago, has been appointed the new acting anti-corruption commissioner, with Michael Riches remaining on indefinite leave with full pay, while the long-running investigation into his conduct continues with no end in sight.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has refused to condemn the domestic violence crimes of an Alice Springs traditional owner and director of two community groups she met with last week, after it was revealed by The Australian on Tuesday that Benedict Stevens pleaded guilty in June to aggravated assault for striking his partner in the face with a tool during an alcohol-fuelled domestic violence incident.
A government-ordered investigation into senior executive Andrew Kirkman’s inappropriate conduct against a female staffer, in which he was found in court to have verbally abused and threatened her costing taxpayers more than $1 million to defend, has been concluded with no action being taken, the Chief Minister said.
Patrick Bellot, a local real estate agent and husband of Mix 104.9 radio personality Katie Woolf, has been appointed chair of the Darwin Waterfront Corporation through a mysterious hiring process that does not appear to have been publicly advertised.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government has announced a “Circuit Breaker Program” for Alice Springs in the wake of a surge of violent crimes in the troubled town that it says will address the “root causes” of crime, but the program as described is exactly what Labor announced in April.
CLP Education Minister Jo Hersey says she is now in the process of divesting her shares in telecommunications giant Telstra, despite pledges from the CLP in February amid Labor’s shares scandal that all its MLAs’ shares would be divested “to show Territorians that we are ready to take government”.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has committed to taking no action against five senior police officers who lied to the court about their involvement in the racist TRG awards, despite evidence the joint investigation by the ICAC and NT Police executive failed to properly review the officers’ criminal conduct.
The Territory’s politicians have quietly been given an early Christmas present in the form of an $8,200 annual pay rise as of January 1 – bringing their base salaries to $175,000, plus benefits and expense accounts – while ministers will see their pay packet increase by nearly $14,000 a year.
