Independent Member for Goyder Kezia Purick will retire from politics at the August election, after 16 controversial years in NT Parliament, highlighted by her sensational resignation as speaker in 2020 after an ICAC report found she engaged in “corrupt conduct”.
Today’s national news includes Australia warning Israel against a military operation in Rafah, Parliament wanting WikiLeaks founder back home, the Jobless rate hitting a two-year high, and Indonesia beating New Zealand as the top destination for Aussies.
The Lawler Government has passed amendments to the Building Act years after unsafe homes and units were discovered that it says will improve safety and boost consumer confidence, but the Opposition rejected the legislation, saying it lacked detail and raised the potential of underqualified or conflicted people controlling building registration.
A cyclone warning has been issued with the Bureau of Meteorology maintaining there is a 40 per cent chance of a cyclone forming in the Gulf of Carpentaria and crossing the Northern Territory coast on Friday.
Suspended Barkly Regional Council Mayor Jeffrey McLaughlin is still being investigated by police for sitting on a child during a claimed “citizen’s arrest”, more than five months after it happened, and three months after a man who was threatening the same boy was charged with aggravated assault.
Today’s national news includes Australia offering $40 million to companies investing in critical minerals, Melbourne celebrating 70 years of Moomba magic, Australian tourists can now apply for a visa to Vietnam online, and LanzaJet, Jet Zero Australia signing a deal to advance the SAF plant.
Charles Darwin University will research water use patterns and the efficiency of the Territory’s rain-fed cotton crops in a partnership with the Industry, Tourism and Trade Department and the industry itself.
Deputy Chief Minister Chansey Paech did not inform Cabinet of his shares in a liquor wholesale company while minister of Aboriginal Affairs when the lifting of grog bans in remote communities was discussed, the Chief Minister says, while federal and Territory political leaders have called for Mr Paech’s resignation for his “sickening” conduct.
The Bureau of Meteorology says there is about a 40 per cent chance of a cyclone developing in the southwest of the Gulf of Carpentaria by Friday, with the agency expecting it to cross the coast over Borroloola on the weekend.
NT WorkSafe is urging all Territory workplaces to be vigilant against the deadly soil-borne disease melioidosis, after a worker at a Darwin landscaping company was diagnosed with the disease on January 23.
EXCLUSIVE: Deputy Chief Minister Chansey Paech personally invested in a liquor wholesale company that supplies alcohol to Alice Springs bottle shops two months before his Labor Government controversially permitted Intervention-era grog bans on remote communities to lapse in 2022, the NT Independent can reveal.
The Lawler Labor Government’s pick for Speaker of the NT Parliament has caused outrage amongst Opposition and independent MLAs, who have argued that Member for Daly Dheran Young is unsuitable for the job due to his past conduct, that includes threatening a sitting MLA and charging taxpayers for his personal holidays.
