NT director of building control Mark Meldrum personally blocked the public release of government documents sought through a Freedom of Information application that likely would have exposed why his flawed investigation of structural defects at the Kube Apartments building was taking two-and-a-half years, documents obtained by the NT Independent reveal, which created a blatant conflict of interest that two government departments have refused to explain.
The lead integration specialist on the Acacia IT project, who was responsible for ensuring its different systems could communicate and exchange data correctly, had his contract terminated two weeks ago, sources have told the NT Independent, making him the latest senior figure to depart the troubled project.
EXCLUSIVE: The Northern Territory’s director of building control Mark Meldrum failed in his duty to properly enforce the NT’s building laws, a new complaint obtained by the NT Independent has alleged, while never-before-seen documents appear to show Mr Meldrum ignored evidence of wrongdoing by the builder of a flawed Darwin CBD apartment complex and shut down an investigation he took two-and-a-half years to finalise before the facts could be reviewed by the regulatory body.
Life Education NT is celebrating 40 years of Healthy Harold in the Northern Territory with a new range of retro merchandise aimed at raising money to take its health and wellbeing programs to 40 communities across the Territory.
UPDATED: The Finocchiaro CLP Government will build a new 1,200-bed private prison at Holtze that is estimated to cost taxpayers more than $1 billion and will be operated by a private company for profit, with critics labelling the move “reckless” and “a failure of crime prevention and community safety”.
Caravan and Camping SANT will host its inaugural Northern Territory Caravan, Camping & Outdoor Show at the Darwin Turf Club from tomorrow.
The Finocchiaro Government has formed a committee to oversee the buy-back of commercial barramundi fishing licences, with the industry welcoming the independent body but calling for alternative fishing methods so locally caught wild barramundi can continue to be sold in restaurants.
NT Business and Asian Relations Minister Robyn Cahill will lead a delegation to Vietnam this week with representatives from numerous local education providers including CDU, Alana Kaye College and Haileybury Rendall School, which she said will “strengthen ties” with the one-party authoritarian state and comes the same day the Vietnamese president was in Canberra to strengthen economic ties with the Commonwealth.
Alice Springs Town Council has launched the ‘myTodd Mall’ buy-local voucher program to support small businesses and attract customers amid ongoing construction disruptions that will see customers earn vouchers depending on how much they spend at participating businesses.
Claravale Station owners were allegedly told by Environment Department staff that the NT Environment Protection Agency did not want to see land clearing applications for assessment and were advised to avoid triggering a referral to the supposedly independent watchdog, according to documents obtained under freedom of information laws, but the department has denied its staff provided that advice and said they instead gave instructions about how to adhere to the legislation.
Northern Territory data centres will have to use renewable energy as their primary source of power or will not proceed, Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen said Wednesday, adding natural gas will only be used as a backup and that he will invoke all Federal Government powers available to enforce the new rules.
Japanese gas company Inpex has been charged by the NT Environmental Protection Authority over alleged under-reporting of emissions from its Ichthys LNG facility in Darwin, which an independent review found had been “systematically underestimated”.
