The number of full-time equivalent police officer positions has dropped by 35, the NT Police annual report shows, which the union has labelled “astonishing” but offered no criticism of the Police Commissioner for the attrition rate more than doubling and despite a critical vote of no confidence in him by members.
For the second time in two weeks, NT Police have warned Alice Springs residents not to enter the CBD, or to leave if they were already there, with sources saying it was due to stolen utes being driven through the centre of town.
The Fyles Government has lost control of Alice Springs and should realise the problems are beyond them and call for federal government help, the head of Central Australia Tourism has said in the wake of police telling residents to stay out of the CBD for the second time in two weeks, and as police claim reinforcements are on the way.
EXCLUSIVE: A man’s body has had to be exhumed after he was buried in the grave of another man, following body identification failures by a Northern Territory hospital and a funeral home, the NT Independent can reveal.
Parks Australia says it is investigating a mysterious incident that it won’t provide details of, which sparked a search and rescue operation in Kakadu National Park on Sunday, while one source has told the NT Independent the incident involved an accidental shooting during an illegal safari hunt.
The NT Government has committed more than $300 million on art galleries and museum projects across the Territory, with an independent MLA raising concerns that the recent cost blow-out of the Darwin city art gallery could result in a shortfall for the long-delayed National Aboriginal Art Gallery in Alice Springs.
EXCLUSIVE: The Fyles Government has refused to say what it will cost to build the new Darwin city art gallery, which in June was projected to cost $50 million, but appears to have now blown out to about $80 million, as part of the overall Civic and State Square redevelopment, which has also seen major cost blowouts.
NT firefighters will not have ceremonies to be presented with their National Emergency Services Medals awarded for their efforts fighting the bushfires in NSW and Queensland in the summer of 2019-20, with NT Fire boss Mark Spain saying it was not feasible to hold a ceremony “due to fairness and acknowledgement.”
St John Ambulance Australia says it has confidence in an investigation by St John Ambulance NT into the behaviour of its director of ambulance services, but the national body ignored questions about what whistleblowers say is a toxic culture in the NT organisation, with significant clinical, operational and safety related complaints and concerns raised by frontline staff not being acknowledged.
The Fyles Government has once again put a design and construction tender out for the Mandorah jetty with Infrastructure Minister Eva Lawler saying it remained on track to open by the end of 2024, despite the government having originally said it would be open in May this year and failing to get anyone to build it from an earlier tender.
Former Tennant Creek Post Office manager Rebecca Liebelt has been sentenced in the Northern Territory Supreme Court to four and half years jail, suspended after six months when she will go into home detention, after pleading guilty to stealing more than $425,000 from Australia Post.
EXCLUSIVE: The ICAC has made 27 recommendations concerning the Batchelor Institute in a report that only “aspects of” will be made public, while a whistleblower who had previously produced their own report into credible allegations of ongoing fraud and misconduct said they were not questioned as part of the watchdog’s review.
