The NT’s anti-corruption commissioner Michael Riches was so afraid his career would be over after being served with a domestic violence order in May 2023, that he offered to pay his estranged wife $20,000 to ensure the matter never made it to the courts, according to a report in The Australian, while the NT Independent can confirm he did not disclose the matter to the ICAC Inspector.
The Aboriginal peak body in the Northern Territory has condemned Police Commissioner Michael Murphy for covering up racist awards handed out by police officers and later lying about it, calling for an “urgent independent review” of systemic racism in the NT Police force and questioning why the Lawler Labor Government has continued to minimise the “ongoing impact of racism”.
Work on the $63 million Mandorah jetty project has finally started five years after the NT government declared it a priority project, the Lawler Government has said, but the cost has more than doubled since 2017, however the upgrade will make the facility compliant with changes to national disability legislation that came into effect 18 months ago following a 20-year lead-in time.
Today’s national news includes the Albanese government slammed for ‘losing its way’, military recruiting noncitizens to boost troop numbers, Brisbane is now the second most expensive city for housing, and P&O Cruises Australia to merge with Carnival Cruise Line.
Smoke from prescribed fires and other smaller fires south of Darwin that pushed a smoky haze across the region on Tuesday morning led to NT Health issuing an advisory for Top End residents.
Charles Darwin University has been given free land by the NT Government for a new student accommodation facility in the Darwin CBD, which it says will take two years to build, without any explanation as to why the government or university did not start on it two years ago amid a shortage of rental properties and as the new city campus nears completion.
Six designers from the Territory were shortlisted to join the 30 other finalists for the 2024 National Indigenous Fashion Awards as part of the upcoming Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair in August.
EDITORIAL: Police Commissioner Michael Murphy has repeatedly said it will take courage to rid the force of racism. What he doesn’t seem to understand is this rules him out of being Police Commissioner. He has proven he is a coward and a liar and a man who buries racism rather than investigate it.
A man who allegedly sexually assaulted a woman after entering her Palmerston home on Wednesday night is still at large, while police appeal for the public’s help to track him down.
The Lawler Government and NT Police Commissioner Michael Murphy have shown little interest in fixing the “growing disease” of racism in the NT Police force, Member for Mulka Yingiya Mark Guyula has said in a blistering statement, calling for real action to “change a culture that normalises racism and dehumanises people”.
Today’s national news includes a US teenager arrested over meth import, defence minister warning China over provocative tactics, The Department of Home Affairs has been ordered to fix deportations to NZ, Inflation quickens to a five-month high, and There may be travel restrictions for Donald Trump in Australia.
EXCLUSIVE: The NT’s anti-corruption commissioner Michael Riches has taken leave while at least two possible investigations are underway into accusations made by his estranged wife that he perpetrated domestic violence over a 10-year period and his possible failure to disclose the allegation.
