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confidence” reason for her dismissal was a pretext, issued one minute after an earlier misconduct-based termination was withdrawn and just two days after she asserted her natural justice rights.
A 17-year-old boy has been arrested over the stabbing death of a man in Tennant Creek, NT Police said, a death which came amid an ongoing feud between families from outlying communities that police say has already led to violent clashes and the seizure of a large number of weapons this week.
City of Darwin staff did not provide enough detail about staffing costs and contracted service provider expenses to councillors to justify the recent 5.5 per cent rates increase for 2026-27, a lone councillor has said while calling for better transparency on operational expenditure at council.
A governance expert has called for an independent external investigation into the troubled Acacia IT project implementation team, that family members of deceased employee Shaun Joyce allege contributed to his death, warning that internal reviews lack transparency with unanswered questions remaining about whether the actions of the department’s chief executive Catherine Weber formed part of the investigation.
NT Police will not say whether it is investigating the findings of “inappropriate” conduct in the government unit tasked with implementing NT Health’s Acacia IT system, that family members of deceased employee Shaun Joyce said contributed to his death.
NT Work Safe investigated St John Ambulance NT for alleged treatment failures following the 2021 death of a patient in its care, but found no breaches of workplace health and safety laws and has closed the matter, saying anyone with additional information that could substantiate a breach should contact the authority.
NT Police are investigating toxic workplace allegations linked to the Acacia IT system, which family members of deceased employee Shaun Joyce said contributed to his death, after the Department of Corporate and Digital Development’s internal investigation found “inappropriate” conduct occurred.
NT Health chief executive officer Chris Hosking, who oversaw the dramatic cost blowout and delayed implementation of the troubled Acacia IT program, which may never be fully rolled out, has been moved at short notice to a new role overseeing the development of an NT Health infrastructure master plan with NT Treasury.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government’s introduction of draft laws that would allow police to detain children for up to 48 hours and, in some cases, interrogate them without a legal guardian or parent present have been labelled as a deliberate expansion of state-inflicted trauma and harm against children, particularly Aboriginal children, critics say.
