EDITORIAL: We have all been subjected to a Weekend at Bernies-style election campaign, with tortuous public debates, in which the leaders said nothing of value and offered the same old, lifeless ideas that will not fix the Territory. The best hope for our democracy at this election is a hung parliament and a minority government made up with help from independents.
The mood of the NT electorate seems slightly sombre, and the most important answer lies in not who will win but how do we fix the system to better serve the Territory?
The 52-year-old police officer who was sacked Friday afternoon for alleged “serious breaches” of discipline is Detective Senior Sergeant Wayne Newell, the NT Independent can confirm.
The Senate inquiry into the Federal Government’s $1.5 billion planned “equity investment” in the Middle Arm industrial precinct has failed to reach a unanimous agreement, with the Greens and two independents calling for an investigation into the secret involvement of gas lobbyists Andrew Liveris, Paul Henderson, Lidija Ivanovski, and Gerard Richardson in the investment decision, that has never been assessed by Infrastructure Australia.
Chief Minister Eva Lawler has conceded the election, with polls showing a complete electoral bloodbath for Territory Labor, which was predicted as of 8:30pm to hold only five seats. It went into Saturday morning holding 14 seats. Ms Lawler is getting...
The Lawler Government rejected the offer of free advice and products to improve the growth of the vines on the Cavanagh Street shade structure from an Australian company that worked on the world famous Gardens by the Bay in Singapore because it was afraid of attracting more public criticism, government emails obtained by the NT Independent show.
The Northern Territory will finally get a lobbyist register, regardless of who wins Saturday’s election, with both major parties committing to establishing a register, which appears inspired by former chief minister Paul Henderson’s secret dealings with major gas players and his lobbying of the Labor government.
The former operator of the Darwin city burger joint Good Thanks has been fined $21,000 in the Federal Circuit Court for underpaying a young chef and showing no remorse for it, the Fair Work Ombudsman said.
Darwin City Council has released the schedule for the annual pre-cyclone roadside clean-up where residents are encouraged to prepare for the Wet season by putting out their furniture, white goods, mattresses, and more, while dates for Palmerston have also been released.
Territory Labor is facing public backlash for a late election mass text message campaign in which certain voters were targeted with unsolicited anti-CLP messages, with political insiders calling the tactic a sign Labor is in trouble and fearing for its political future days out from the election.
The former head of the Pastoral Land Board says growing commercial cotton on pastoral lease land without a special permit does not fall within the definition of “pastoral purposes” under the law, while the Lawler Government’s defence of the action removes the specific wording contained under the Act, which states anything grown on the land must be “essential to” and “inseparable from” the business of cattle grazing.
Today’s national news includes Assistant Citizenship Minister Julian Hill slamming the Opposition for its “fear-based scare campaign” on Palestinian refugees receiving visas, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Jacinta Price saying that the upcoming NT election will be a very close fight, Australian solar project being cancelled by Origin due to unfavourable conditions, and Australia-Indonesia defence pact being finalized.
