Chief Minister Natasha Fyles’s controversial trip to the US has taken a new turn, with Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison revealing Monday morning that “some” unnamed public servants also travelled with Ms Fyles to Washington and beyond that was not previously disclosed and will increase the overall cost to taxpayers.
Ms Fyles left for the nine-day $93,000 trip eight days ago with seemingly no official meetings scheduled that her office and state media, the NT News, said was crucial to discuss national defence issues with US officials, as well as to discuss critical minerals and the Territory’s emergency response capabilities. Tourism and “industrial-scale renewable energy projects” were added as topics last week.
Manison says it could generate billions from this trip! I seriously doubt that they will raise enough to cover costs. If the US does do anything in the north Fyles will claim credit for a decision that she had no input to.