Two long-serving NT public servants with no real-world business experience have been permanently appointed to lead the Territory’s future economic hopes, the Gunner Government has announced.
‘Nothing but wholesale slaughter will do any good’: A station worker’s letter to his sister about massacre
An 1885 letter from Calvert Downs station worker Bob McCracken to his sister Mattie details the role he played in a Gulf massacre that he said left more than 90 Aboriginal people dead or wounded out of a group of 200. The letter, written from the station that straddles the NT-Queensland border some months after the killing, was kept in a family collection, and donated to the Colonial Frontier Massacres project this month.
Government silent on details of community movements of man with COVID-19
The movements in the community of a man who has now tested positive to COVID-19 “in the last 24 hours” but who arrived in Darwin on Tuesday onboard a yacht from Indonesia have not been provided to the public by the NT Health Department.
COVID-19 fragments detected in Darwin wastewater, further testing underway
NT Health authorities are unsure if viral COVID-19 fragments detected in Darwin wastewater samples taken from the Ludmilla treatment plant on Wednesday are from active cases or from someone who has recovered.
Minister confirms Gunner rushed grandstand grant through Cabinet, Drabsch now overseeing ICAC recommendations despite ‘deceptive’ conduct
A second Minister has confirmed Chief Minister Michael Gunner rushed the $12 million Darwin Turf Club grandstand grant through Cabinet himself and that the senior public servant who failed to warn Cabinet of the submission’s lack of details is now, remarkably, in charge of implementing the ICAC’s recommendations.
‘I live and die by the sword’: Aaron Pike taking on the ‘true test of golf’, the British Open
Darwin golfer Aaron Pike had passing thoughts of quitting the game that has meant everything to him but he had one thing to hold on to, his first appearance in a major golf tournament, and while he had to endure a year’s COVID-19-enforced uncertainty, he tees off in the British Open at Royal St George’s course in England today.
‘Labor’s dodgy dollars’: Opposition calls on Gunner to give Dixon donations to charity
Chief Minister Michael Gunner and his Labor government should give the $100,000 in donations received from companies owned by Brett Dixon in 2016 to charity if they are as angry about the grandstand scandal as they claim, the Opposition CLP say.
Darwin council calls for Cracker Night to be moved to April
Darwin Council has written to Chief Minister Michael Gunner requesting that he reconsider the new date for Cracker Night – which was moved from July 1 to August 29 – due to concerns around the risk of bushfires.
Senior public servant who worked on grandstand proposal still in role despite findings of ‘deceptive’ conduct
Chief Minister Michael Gunner has not taken any action against senior public servant Shaun Drabsch, who the ICAC found engaged in “deceptive” conduct with former Labor powerbroker Alf Leonardi to ensure the $12 million publicly-funded Darwin Turf Club grandstand project was awarded a taxpayer grant.
Government cancels Arafura Games amid COVID-19 uncertainty
The Gunner Government has permanently cancelled the Arafura Games, two years after committing to holding the event again despite a proper cost benefit analysis never being released, citing the global pandemic.
‘I was following instructions’: Chief Minister’s former chief of staff’s stunning claim to ICAC revealed
Chief Minister Michael Gunner’s former chief of staff Alf Leonardi was only “following instructions” while playing a key role in the Darwin Turf Club grandstand scandal, he told the ICAC, raising new questions about the Chief Minister’s involvement.
Gunner’s $12m grandstand grant that benefitted campaign donor still ‘has stench to it’: Opposition
Chief Minister Michael Gunner has still not explained to anyone’s satisfaction why his Cabinet approved $12 million for the Darwin Turf Club grandstand project that ultimately went to a major party donor without proper scrutiny, the Opposition says.