Alice Springs’ top cop James Gray-Spence went on sudden leave less than 48 hours after the town’s “emergency situation” was declared last week, and shortly after Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said his southern commander was “getting on with his job” while embroiled in the joint NT Police – ICAC investigation into racism.
UPDATED: Emergency services have responded to a “disturbance” at the Don Dale youth prison, with firefighters having to extinguish a fire in one of the buildings, NT Police said.
Police Commissioner Michael Murphy has announced three new assistant commissioners with the acting assistant commissioner James Gray-Spence, who is one of the subjects of the joint ICAC – NT Police investigation into racism in the Territory Response Group, missing out on securing the job permanently.
Former Tales from the Tinny presenter Andrew Warton has been announced as the interim chief executive officer of the newly created Northern Territory Fire and Emergency Services agency, while the government searches for a commissioner to head the authority.
Federal politicians on all sides have called for action to help under siege Alice Springs on Wednesday, with Labor Member for Lingiari Marion Scrymgour pledging to get the federal Attorney-General to speak with the NT Police Commissioner about possible AFP assistance, while federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton asked the Prime Minister when he would go back to Alice Springs to help restore order.
Alice Springs Mayor Matt Paterson has called for the Lawler Government to hand responsibility for Alice Springs over to the federal government if it cannot keep residents safe, and once again called for Australian Federal Police or the Australian Army to be brought in, after what he said was the scariest thing he had ever witnessed on the streets on Tuesday.
A woman in Wadeye suffered a collapsed lung and was flown to Royal Darwin Hospital after being stabbed in the back multiple times with scissors on Sunday, NT Police said.
Dozens of workers at Glencore’s McArthur River Mine have been stranded in mine buildings after floodwaters from Cyclone Megan cut access back to the worker accommodation, while two workers had to be rescued from floodwaters after their vehicle washed off an internal road, the company has confirmed.
The Angurugu cyclone shelter was not open for the community until Tuesday morning, about three days after the tropical storm that became Cyclone Megan hit Groote Eylandt, knocking out electricity and water in the community that has many non-cyclone coded homes, but the government will not explain why it was kept closed.
A Darwin Middle School teacher has been charged for allegedly hitting a student in class, NT Police said.
There will be no disciplinary action taken against senior police officers who gave evidence to the coroner denying the TRG’s Nooguda award was racist until an investigation into the matter is complete, Police Commissioner Michael Murphy has said, which followed the lifting of a suppression order on the publication of certificates handed out with the award, including one that had an Aboriginal flag backdrop.
NT Police is investigating a “physical altercation” between a teacher and a student at Darwin Middle School, the Education Department has confirmed.
