The NT Government’s initiatives to reduce deaths on Territory roads are not working, the Automobile Association of the Northern Territory says, calling for the disclosure of data about road quality, the causes of fatal crashes and the effectiveness of police activities to better protect drivers as the death count continues to rise.
The Lawler Government and CDU have refused to explain how the university can provide the necessary independence to undertake monitoring of the gas industry’s fracking operations in the Beetaloo Sub-Basin, after its vice-chancellor told a Senate inquiry the university regularly accepts money and gifts from the industry, with other integrity issues at the highest levels of the university remaining unresolved.
EXCLUSIVE: NT Fire and Emergency Services will not disclose the findings of an internal integrity unit investigation into the firefighter overtime system, or the results of a now-binned audit conducted by an outside contractor, which the agency said was commissioned due to fraud concerns, but which the union representing firies says was only ordered to retaliate against a member who raised overtime concerns.
Eight people of various ages involved in fleeing the fatal car crash in Alice Springs last month that killed an 18-year-old and sparked civic unrest in the community have now been arrested, police said, with the last suspect picked up yesterday following the “large investigation”.
The Lawler Government has signed a multi-year gas supply deal with Tamboran Resources to purchase gas from its future Beetaloo Basin operations to keep the lights on in the Territory, before the government has given final environmental approval for the operation to go ahead.
Royal Darwin Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit was returned to a “higher level of care” with less beds, three days after the NT Independent revealed it had been downgraded, but the Australian Salaried Medical Officers’ Federation said it feared the move to restore services was a knee jerk reaction to media coverage.
Drones fitted with artificial intelligence are being used to help capture crocodiles, and can also be used to locate nesting sites, monitor movements, and track invasive and native wildlife across wetlands, the founder of company that makes drones to track wildlife has said.
UPDATED: A 40-year-old male police officer is facing drink driving charges and going armed in public following “an incident” in Muirhead over the weekend, NT Police said.
Fourteen youths are facing 79 charges in connection to a riot at the Don Dale youth detention facility earlier this month that saw fires set to buildings, a police officer injured and an overnight rooftop stand-off involving six detainees.
The NT has again ranked last overall in the country for economic performance in the latest CommSec State of the States report, with key economic indicators painting a dismal picture across various sectors.
The Lawler Labor Government’s decision to spend $57 million to establish two new women’s detention facilities is an “expensive step in the wrong direction”, critics say, who argue the money could be put to better use in the “broken” NT justice system.
Three male youths are under investigation for allegedly sexually assaulting a five-year-old child who is known to them in an unnamed MacDonnell Region community, NT Police said.
