Barkly Regional Council Mayor Jeffrey McLaughlin was driving a council car when he was charged this month for allegedly having cannabis in his system while driving for the second time, Deputy Mayor Russell O’Donnell has said, however he said no action could be taken despite a council policy forbidding drivers from having illicit drugs in their system.
The Independent Commissioner Against Corruption has recommended Bachelor Institute train staff about their ethical responsibilities, reporting requirements, whistleblower protections, and management of improper conduct as part of his review of the troubled Indigenous training organisation, which also references missing artwork in passing, but no specific mention of misconduct.
A 22-year-old man who went on a three-day crime spree last week around the northern suburbs that the police media unit did not inform the public about was finally arrested on Monday at Casuarina, NT Police said.
The NT’s first law officer, Attorney General Chansey Paech, has been referred to the anti-corruption commissioner for allegedly failing to publicly disclose “his deep connections” to an Aboriginal service provider in Alice Springs that an independent MLA says was awarded “enormous amounts of public money”.
Darwin bar and nightclub Monsoons is hoping to roll a strike with patrons, filing an application to utilise another floor of its existing premises for a new bar area, including a four-lane bowling alley installed inside the club, its development application with the government shows.
The head of the NT Police’s Firearms and Recording Unit has written to shooting groups asking what they think are reasonable limits on ammunition possession, in what the authority said was an attempt to comply with the National Firearms Agreement, stating further that any limit set could be increased with a letter from the licence holder outlining that genuine need for more.
O’Loughlin Catholic College was forced to close to students on Tuesday after sustaining significant damage during a break-in overnight, which comes during a rocky start to the new school year that also saw the school evacuated last week after a bomb threat.
Nurses and midwife staffing numbers at Alice Springs Hospital are down by about 130 full-time equivalent positions, or by about 30 per cent, with some leaving due to violence in the town and fatigue, with casual agency nurses in remote central Australian health clinics being paid $1500 a day, Australia Nursing and Midwifery Federation NT branch secretary Cath Hatcher said.
An alcohol ban will be reinstated for all Aboriginal town camps and communities in the Northern Territory until communities can vote whether or not to opt-out, under new legislation pledged by Chief Minister Natasha Fyles, while the Federal Government has promised $250 million for unspecified projects over an unspecified period of time in central Australia.
The Barkly Regional Council mayor Jefferey McLaughlin has said he will be contesting his second drug driving charge in less than five months, saying his positive roadside test for marijuana police alleged, was a result of “prescription medication”.
ANALYSIS: Newly sworn-in Administrator Hugh Heggie is indelibly intertwined with some of the most controversial policies, and by extension legislation, the NT has ever seen, however as this government ordered, we will not get to see the reasons why the former CHO made the decisions he did for two years. The Administrator is intended to be apolitical – so why does the Chief Minister and friends get to select their boss of bosses and what are the problems this raises for the NT?
Barkly Regional Council Mayor Jeffrey McLaughlin has been charged for the second time in less than five months after allegedly driving with marijuana in his system again, sources have told the NT Independent.
