The prosecution’s case against Federal Labor MP Luke Gosling for the alleged assault of the Administrator could see five foreign officials from the Thai embassy dragged into the legal fight, which the defence argued could clear Mr Gosling, but the officials may invoke “diplomatic immunity”, the court heard Wednesday afternoon.
The Attorney-General and head public servant were provided a shortlist of candidates for the top executive position in the Attorney-General’s Department back in April, but took no action to interview any of the candidates before quietly appointing the acting executive to the permanent role last week while failing to explain why the proper recruitment process was initiated but not followed for the key position.
A woman faces an assault charge for allegedly spitting in a shop worker’s face on Friday and a 17-year-old girl has been charged with physically assaulting the same worker, while the employee in turn is being investigated over her use of OC spray, including spraying it into a vehicle carrying the alleged offenders while two young children were sitting inside, with police not disclosing the children’s ages.
A Sydney-based lawyer who was involved in the Eddie Obeid corruption case has been engaged by the NT DPP to prosecute Federal MP Luke Gosling’s criminal assault matter after Commonwealth prosecutors rejected the case last month, amid the acting NT DPP’s move to avoid a “perceived conflict of interest” in the matter.
The Limmen Bight Marine Park has been extended by 185sq kms, an increase of 20 per cent, which the government says will help support the world’s largest dugong population while protecting marine habitats and promoting sustainable tourism.
ANALYSIS: Fifteen months ago, Territory Labor Leader Selena Uibo was handed a review of the party’s crushing 2024 election defeat prepared by the national executive, which she promptly hid and refused to make public. Today, the NT Independent can reveal the contents of that report show the party has yet to fully come to terms with why Territorians booted it from office and failed to learn any lessons from one of the worst political defeats in Territory history.
The NT’s acting Chief Judge was forced to issue an extraordinary “correction” earlier this week after an email from the courts’ deputy registrar stated there would be no new Local Court judges appointed “in the foreseeable future” necessitating cancelled court lists in an already over-stretched system, which kicked off allegations in legal circles that the CLP Government had rejected the appointment of new judges on the grounds that their alleged politics did not align with the ruling party’s.
Former NT Police assistant commissioner Janelle Tonkin has taken aim at the NT Police Force’s toxic culture, after her official police picture was altered with AI to make it sexually suggestive and shared amongst an unknown number of officers, saying the police force has “real work to do” to make it safe and respectful for women and minorities.
Ghost bats have been discovered at Bullo River Station in the Victoria River District of the Northern Territory, the Australian Wildlife Conservancy has said.
UPDATED: A 14-year-old girl was tasered by police in the Darwin CBD Tuesday afternoon after she allegedly stabbed a police officer with a kitchen knife, injuring his upper arm and chest, NT Police said.
Federal Finance Minister Katy Gallagher says the Finocchiaro CLP Government is gaining a reputation as being “very difficult to work with” following a meeting on Friday that the Federal Labor Government scheduled to discuss why the NT was leaving tens of millions of dollars on the table in unclaimed flood disaster relief payments and why other money it has collected from the Commonwealth is not being spent on domestic violence prevention, remote housing and in other crucial areas.
UPDATED: A 42-year-old NT Police officer has been suspended on full pay after being charged with aggravated assault and served with a domestic violence order following an incident at a Palmerston home while the male officer was off-duty, NT Police said.
