Trade and Business Minister Robyn Cahill’s claim that the Earth’s poles can flip during periods of heavy rainfall in the Northern Territory and that the water causes the Earth’s axis to shift is incorrect and shows she has a “very poor and terrible understanding” of how hydrology works, a leading expert in satellite hydrology says.
ANALYSIS: The recent demotion of Assistant Commissioner Janelle Tonkin suggests superficially a willingness to enforce discipline, although what she is alleged to have done remains a mystery – whatever the cause of Tonkin’s fall, this rare act of accountability stands in stark contrast to so many others in recent years who have acted with impunity.
The Finocchiaro Government’s “devastating” decision to close the YiSSA short-stay accommodation facility in Darwin within 90 days will leave almost 400 vulnerable Territorians without accommodation, the organisation running the facility says, while Children and Families Minister Robyn Cahill said the government could not justify the cost of renewing the lease and promised no one would be left without a bed, but is yet to develop a plan for housing people.
The head of the unit responsible for implementing the failed $335 million Acacia IT project has been moved to a specially created $250,000-a-year job by her former boss in the Department of Treasury and Finance, despite leading the unit that was recently subject of an internal investigation prompted by allegations of a toxic workplace culture that allegedly led to the death of worker Shaun Joyce, sources have told the NT Independent.
Environment Minister Josh Burgoyne will not say if the government has settled with Claravale Farm’s owners to drop a Federal Court challenge over a property-sale caveat, which follows revelations the minister falsely claimed 15 months ago that a revegetation deal to avoid illegal clearing prosecution was already signed by the company, when it was only finalised last month.
Labor Opposition Leader Selena Uibo has not committed to taking any action against Labor MLA Manuel Brown over his repeated speeding offences while admitting she is not confident he won’t do it again and has refused to answer whether the member for Arafura’s 14-year-old son drove his private vehicle.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro says she wants to allow 16-year-olds to carry OC spray and let people purchase it on behalf of others when her government legislates to make the public access trial permanent later this year, a move an independent MLA said should be backed by evidence and questioned whether teenagers could make split-second decisions about when its use was lawful.
Corporate and Digital Development Minister Josh Burgoyne avoided answering questions about his department at Estimates, including about the failed Acacia IT project and the internal investigation into the suicide death of an employee, by choosing to make a speech for the full allocated time rather than open himself and the chief executive to public examination.
NT Health Department acting chief executive Susan Bowden has refused to explain how men armed with a machete and a nulla-nulla entered Tennant Creek Hospital to allegedly assault a patient last week, while the Australian Medical Association has raised safety concerns and NT WorkSafe has pledged to inquire into the incident after the department failed to notify the workplace regulator.
Three men carrying a machete and a nulla-nulla assaulted a patient inside Tennant Creek Hospital on the same night another man was stabbed to death in the town as part of ongoing fighting, details of which were kept hidden from the public by NT Police.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government will extend alcohol prohibitions in outstations, Aboriginal communities and town camps beyond their January expiry date that were first introduced as an emergency measure by the Fyles Labor government after the controversial decision to allow alcohol back into communities in 2022.
A former Northern Territory deputy chief executive has taken the government to court, alleging she was unfairly sacked after allegedly speaking disrespectfully about Education Minister Jo Hersey, and claiming a later “loss of confidence” reason for her dismissal was a pretext, issued one minute after an earlier misconduct-based termination was withdrawn and just two days after she asserted her natural justice rights.
