A rocket launching company the previous Labor government invested more than $5 million of public funds into has gone into liquidation, with the Chief Minister mocking Labor again for their poor investment decisions, but refusing to answer questions about whether she would now call a public inquiry into how Labor wasted millions of taxpayer money investing in doomed private business enterprises.
The NT Cattlemen’s Association has been forced to publicly acknowledge it works with Indigenous people and employs women in leadership roles as part of a “diverse and modern” NT cattle industry, following comments from NT Administrator and former NTCA president David Connolly, who claimed on Monday that his racist, sexist and homophobic social media posts, that also included joking about domestic violence and date rape, were a reflection of “the pastoral world”.
Administrator David Connolly says he was a “naive cattleman” mixed up in the high stakes world of “agri-politics” when he made controversial social media comments disparaging Aboriginal people, women and the LGBTQI community and joked about domestic violence and date rape, which he said was “pastoral world” talk, while his former employer at Tipperary Station has provided some insight into why he left the station manager role last year.
Outgoing CDU vice-chancellor Scott Bowman’s legacy of a London campus has been scrapped after the university spent nearly $2 million on the flawed project and hired three of Mr Bowman’s mates with taxpayer money to run it, the university has said, while questions to its council about how it allowed the proposal to proceed have been ignored.
David Connolly was sworn in as the next Administrator of the Northern Territory Friday morning in a red carpet ceremony, starting his tenure by saying he wanted to thank the Larrakia people and “pay respects to them all, past and present”, while outside a Larrakia elder was arrested at what was a peaceful protest of more than a hundred people, which descended into brief chaos after the arrest.
A new video showing NT Administrator David Connolly manhandling anti-fracking activist and current independent Nightcliff candidate Phil Scott at a business conference in 2023, leading to a violent shove and water allegedly thrown in Mr Scott’s face, has been described as “deeply disturbing” and conduct unbecoming of an Administrator. WATCH THE VIDEO HERE.
NT Administrator David Connolly has issued an apology for his past social media posts, which he claimed again he did not intend to cause offence with, but stopped short of addressing other comments he has made and positions he has taken against Indigenous Territorians, with the apology coming on the eve of his swearing-in.
A day after the Chief Minister lost her cool on radio over a scheduled protest against the appointment of NT Administrator David Connolly on Friday, Speaker Robyn Lambley has shut the rally down citing security concerns for “the dignitaries involved”, but the Governor-General’s office said last night neither it or the AFP raised any concerns, with event organisers now looking for a new venue while pondering legal action against the government.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro erupted on radio Monday morning in frustration to the public outrage over the appointment and scheduled swearing-in of David Connolly as Administrator this Friday, following the cross-bench and Opposition’s move to boycott the ceremony because of Mr Connolly’s past racist and sexist public comments, with Ms Finocchiaro arguing that “people should have some respect” for the new Administrator.
Territory police officers want to know why the entire NT Police top brass is currently under investigation by the Australian Federal Police, the union representing the cops has said, while questions about perceived conflicts of interest in the investigation have been ignored by all involved.
Education and Training Minister Jo Hersey has called on the Australian Skills Quality Authority to explain how the national regulator re-registered Charles Darwin University’s TAFE program last September without picking up on the massive accreditation failures that has now led to hundreds of students needing to resit their qualifications, amid continued calls for Scott Bowman’s resignation.
A federal inquiry into Charles Darwin University’s governance practices and general “competency” should be ordered immediately and vice-chancellor Scott Bowman’s “head must roll”, an independent MLA has said, in the wake of revelations nearly 400 CDU TAFE students and others were graduated without proper qualifications.
