Chief Minister Natasha Fyles defended her government’s continued illegal ban on the NT Independent during her National Press Club address on Tuesday by lying to the public, after appearing to be caught off-guard when asked by ABC’s Laura Tingle why her government does not allow this award-winning news outlet to attend press conferences.
“Why is that [ban on the NT Independent] happening and shouldn’t you be lifting it, given it’s broken a lot of important stories in the Territory?” Tingle asked Ms Fyles during the nationally televised broadcast.
“Shouldn’t you lift that [ban] in the name of press freedom and broader debate in the Northern Territory?”
Ms Fyles appeared annoyed by the question.
“I think we’re gonna have to disagree on this one. We feel that it’s a blog page and it’s not a professional media outlet.”
Tingle replied: “It’s won all sorts of awards for its coverage.”
“I think we’re…you know, we can use our valuable time here and, but it’s for us, it’s not a professional media organisation,” Ms Fyles said.
“There’s been a lot of misinformation and it’s not a professional organisation.”
NT Independent editor Chris Walsh strongly refuted Ms Fyles’ defamatory and untrue comments and pointed out that the NT Independent has won the NT Media Award for Best News Coverage for the last two consecutive years, beating out stiff competition in the ABC and other local media outlets for the honour as judged by interstate journalism professionals.
“The whole country has now seen our Chief Minister’s devious mind in action, where she immediately resorts to bold-faced lies and unfounded attacks when the facts line up against her,” he said.
“The more we all passively permit her to lie to all of us, the more emboldened those lies become and the further the truth drifts.
“We call on the Chief Minister to finally accept responsibility for her government’s failings rather than continuing to lie to the public and cover them up. She avoids scrutiny at all costs and that was apparent in a number of her statements at the National Press Club today.
“The NT Independent is a professional media organisation recognised by all professional media associations in the country and does not report ‘misinformation’. The Chief Minister is clearly afraid of what we’ve been exposing.”
Walsh added he was considering his legal options after Ms Fyles’ highly defamatory comments were broadcast nationally.
The NT Independent has given Ms Fyles’ office the opportunity to clarify or retract her untrue comments and explain what evidence she was relying on to make the unfounded assertions about the integrity of this publication, its staff and editor.
The Gunner/Fyles Labor Government has been widely condemned for its ban on the NT Independent by the Australian Senate (unanimously), the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom, the Australia Institute, Media Watch, Crikey, numerous academics across the country and the international New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
Fibber Fyles doing what she does better than anything. She is supposed to be there promoting the NT as a place to do business, but instead shows that she can’t be trusted. No surprise that we are not getting investment.
Truth is foreign notion to this self-serving Labor mob. The sooner they are gone the better.
For the foreseeable future, when asked who are the worst Politicians in Australian Politics, Gunner, Fyles and Manison will be mentioned quick smart!
The truth hurts and she cannot handle it. The whole show with her is a total farce.
The Labor Losers at tax payer funded ABC Darwin, Jane Bardon and some random called Sarah Spina-Matthews, who tell people publicly that they are Journalists, do not even mention the hypocrisy in their tax payer funded article:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-01/national-press-club-nt-chif-minister-natasha-fyles/102669874
Then you have Annabel Bowles from the NT Government News who printed what she was told to publish by the NT Government;
You can read the tripe here:
https://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/nt-government-business-leaders-to-host-facing-north-event-in-canberra
Interesting that News Corp did not even mention the Chief Minister Whats-her-face in the news.com.au
Sky News Matt Cunningham doesnt mention anything either:
https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/politics/the-hypocrisy-is-breathtaking-northern-territory-chief-minister-hits-out-at-teals/video/3c3036f3d875b41fca1c2d88f04e10a3
There’s a defamation case there Chris take her to the cleaners. Don’t accept an apology. MD not JD
I retract any comments about Jane Bardon, she has just released two amazing articles below”
“NT Independent ban ‘should worry all Australians'”
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/am/nt-independent-ban-should-worry-all-australians-/102682132
“NT Independent considering legal action over Natasha Fyles’s ‘misinformation’ claim”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-03/nt-independent-legal-action-natasha-fyles-misinformation-claim/102682246
Let’s not forget 2016-21 NTG ALP CM Michael Gunner, Health Minister Natasha Fyles & CHO Hugh Heggie mandated a gene therapy causing many NT citizens to experience vaccine injury; furthermore these tyrants locked down the economy to shut down small business & grow the NTG public service. Gunner, Fyles & Heggie lie & are puppets working toward the WEF & WHO depopulation strategy. They need to be held to account as democracy has been threatened within the Darwin gulag.
QLD Senator Gerard Rennick has a COVID Vaccine Health Form to lodge a complaint to collectively take out a class action against the COVID scam. Phone: 07 3252 7101 Email: Senator.rennick@aph.gov.au
The NT Government’s ban on the NT Independent is appalling and I’m astounded that it continues, despite the awards for “Best News Coverage” and condemnation from the Australian Senate and numerous media organisations. This issue alone deserves to bring down this government (or any government that implements restrictions on free press that doesn’t publish misinformation). They’ve dug a hole for themselves though and seem to think that the only way out is to keep digging that hole deeper, and probably spending more and more of our taxpayer funds trying to defend their indefensible position.
And it’s these labour mob and their supporters who call liberal conservatives or anyone with a logical argument to their actions “fascist”
Without NT independent the government would cover up most of its activities as many items of interest are not reported elsewhere. Cant rely on ABC or NT News rubbish.