The Finocchiaro CLP Government has “betrayed the trust of thousands” by scrapping the plan to underground power lines across Darwin, the Opposition says, while the government said “it looks like” it has found $200 million in savings from “deferring” that project and others, but their figures do not appear to add up.
A tender to paint CLP Minister Marie-Clare Boothby’s electorate office and “move furniture” was put out to the market at a cost of between $500,000 and $1 million, government records show, which the Minister claims she shut down over the huge price tag, but the tender was active for at least a week before being removed, the NT Independent can reveal.
The Finocchiaro Government has pledged an “extra” $1 million in funding for Legal Aid NT, a day after a homeless man charged with aggravated robbery was reportedly granted bail due to confusion around his trial following Legal Aid cutting his defence funding.
Territory Labor spent more than $1 million on its 2024 election campaign, new figures released by the NT Electoral Commission show, which was more money than the party raised and $170,000 more than the CLP spent on their campaign, with Labor appearing to spend more than half a million dollars on “staff expenses” and non-print ad design costs.
The Office of the ICAC did not interrogate a single person as part of an investigation last financial year, which the Acting Commissioner claimed was due to renovations to the office’s hearing room and a new policy introduced by suspended Commissioner Michael Riches not to force people suspected of corruption to provide evidence.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government is proposing new laws to grant ministers and the unelected Territory Coordinator sweeping powers to “step in” on major projects and overrule regulatory processes by departments, ultimately making decisions to approve projects themselves, which critics have labelled “anti-democratic and anti-Territorian”.
Bypass works on the long-delayed and over-budget Tiger Brennan overpass project that closed access to a gate at the Hidden Valley motor sports complex could mean the popular V8 Supercars event is cancelled next year, the new Minister for Logistics and Infrastructure has revealed, stating the department is currently “scrambling” to find a solution that would allow emergency vehicles to enter the facility.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro’s hiring of a liquor industry lobbyist as her chief of staff has been raised during debate in Parliament about new alcohol laws, with Greens MLA Kat McNamara suggesting the government’s plan to scrap the minimum alcohol unit price would benefit the liquor industry and not Territorians.
The CLP Government’s director of communications is being paid more money than the NT’s head of nursing and midwifery and more than every new CLP minister, the NT Independent can reveal, with former NT News editor Matt Williams given the plum gig by Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro that pays up to $300,000 a year, despite having no experience as a political adviser.
The Territory’s anti-corruption watchdog’s suspension following alleged “inappropriate behaviour” towards several female staffers will end on Sunday, before the investigation into his alleged conduct is complete, while Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has refused to comment on whether he will be reinstated to the role on Monday.
Former chief minister and current gas lobbyist Paul Henderson will not seek a third three-year term as chancellor of Charles Darwin University, the university has announced.
Former CLP senator Sam McMahon is currently being sued by a federal audit body for allegedly breaching expenses policy and using taxpayer money to avoid COVID quarantine in Darwin, but the NT Independent can reveal she also failed to disclose paying her staffer $135,000 for a share of his Darwin unit, as part of an “unusual” arrangement.
