Record-low voter turnout, cuts to funding and now a major bungling of developing new electorate boundaries should lead to a “big shake-up” of the NT Electoral Commission, an independent MLA says, who is calling for an independent inquiry into the agency.
The Fyles Government claimed on Friday that it has “fast-tracked” the construction of a new $25 million ward at Royal Darwin Hospital that will open in “early” 2025 – five months after claiming it would be finished between April and October 2024.
Two people have died and two others injured in separate vehicle crashes over the weekend, NT Police said, including an Alice Springs woman who was clipped by a car reportedly driving erratically early Saturday morning.
Today’s national news includes Australian may give ‘Voice’ to Indigenous communities, Prime Minister Albanese visits Manila, strikes begin at Chevron Australia LNG projects, tuberculosis outbreak reported in remote SA communities, and Australia backs the Philippines over claims in South China Sea.
It was a case of deja vu all over again on Friday as the Fyles Government announced that the Clough-BMD joint venture has been awarded the contract to build the long-delayed Darwin ship lift facility at East Arm – the same announcement it made 14 months ago.
Built in 1993, this oversized duplex, situated on a 476 sq m lot, is on offer for $399,000 and comes with three bedrooms, a study, a lounge, dining, a family room with bay windows, and a private courtyard.
Tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes’ private investment company Grok Ventures has finalised its purchase of the Sun Cable project, and has reaffirmed plans to build Australia’s largest solar farm near Tennant Creek to supply of electricity to Singapore via an undersea cable from Darwin.
Today’s national news includes ASIC suing PayPal unit over biased terms in small business contracts, Australia launching SEA economic strategy, Australia’s gross domestic product up, and offensive strip searches a factor in Qatar Airways rejection.
UPDATED: The Supreme Court has ordered the NT Government to pay $1 million in damages to four former Don Dale detainees who were illegally teargassed during a disturbance at the youth detention centre in 2014, but the government says it considering “its legal options”.
Two NT Police officers were allegedly assaulted by an angry mob in an Alice Springs town camp while attempting to arrest a man who allegedly shot at people at a funeral last week and was on the run, in a dangerous incident the NT Police media unit did not report to the public.
A research team made up of scientists from the United States, Indonesia and Charles Darwin University are searching for the elusive Clown Wedgefish, one of the world’s most endangered fish, in Indonesia’s Riau Islands.
The Northern Territory economy has shrunk by one per cent in the June quarter, while the national economy grew, according to ABS data, which comes at the same time Darwin recorded the highest cost of living increase in the country.
