The NT Police top brass has stripped a respected officer and father of two of his livelihood for speaking out against Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker in an opinion piece in the NT Independent, in which he called for the police force to restore its core values and hold a vote of no confidence against Mr Chalker in the wake of the Zach Rolfe matter.
A fire services expert has questioned why TIO Stadium’s fire alarm system is being routinely disabled from alerting the public and fire authorities of potential fires at the uncertified venue during major events, which he described as “dangerous” and potentially life-threatening.
EXCLUSIVE: Photos of TIO Stadium’s fire panel taken while the building was fully occupied during the NTFL Grand Final last month appear to show that government officials had disabled the fire alarm system for the public event, the NT Independent can reveal.
A consortium of local businessmen backing Brett Dixon have suddenly pulled their application to transfer the Hidden Valley Tavern’s liquor licence at the last minute, just a day before it was to be heard by the NT Liquor Commission, while questions of potential conflicts of interest relating to the commission have also been raised.
EXCLUSIVE: Darwin City Council has secretly awarded a contract worth potentially millions of dollars to upgrade the unwanted velodrome at Bagot Park to Jaytex Constructions – the company behind the infamous $12 million Turf Club grandstand – whose director was found to have engaged in “corrupt conduct” by the ICAC, the NT Independent can reveal.
Attorney General Selena Uibo used taxpayer resources to produce a public report that promoted NT Labor’s “party interests” by playing up its “perceived achievements” on anti-discrimination laws, which the Auditor General has found violated the Public Information Act.
UPDATED: A Country Liberal Party branch has circulated a proposal to fight the Territory’s high crime rates by flying in “hooded cane masters” from Singapore to apply “six doses” at a time to anybody sentenced to less than a year for breaking the law while wearing masks to “protect them from possible revenge attacks”.
The Office of the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption did not provide promised oversight of the NT Police’s flawed investigation into the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker despite being directly requested to do so by Aboriginal elders in Yuendumu, and publicly claiming that it would, the NT Independent can reveal.
The Department of Chief Minister and Cabinet has refused to explain incomplete travel records provided to the NT Independent last year under FOI laws that showed Michael Gunner’s then-deputy chief of staff and brother-in-law approved the use of taxpayer funds for campaign purposes in apparent contravention of the law.
Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker and the Director of Public Prosecutions have refused to explain why an American use-of-force expert paid by police who provided evidence against Constable Zach Rolfe was used at the committal hearing but not during the Supreme Court murder trial.
Former Labor racing minister and current chair of Thoroughbred Racing NT Syd Stirling has told the Chief Minister the Darwin Turf Club and the peak body representing racing should not have to pay back $12 million of taxpayers’ money for the controversial grandstand because it would be bad for the NT’s economy.
Senator Sam McMahon, who resigned from the CLP earlier this year, will re-contest the upcoming federal election as a Liberal Democrat, she has announced.
