This is the third instalment of the NT Independent’s 2020 Year in Review. In this segment we relive some more of the only-in-the-NT absurdity of the year, with the NT Police executive telling officers to lie to the public; the NT Government lying to voters with misleading financial figures before the election; an unresolved conflict of interest at the public broadcaster’s Darwin newsroom making national news; some more questionable trips at taxpayer expense and the Chief Minister finally getting his Dan Murphy’s that he wanted all along despite stopping it at every turn for four years.

This is the second instalment of the NT Independent’s 2020 Year in Review. In this segment we relive some of the truly magnificent ‘no consequences’ moments of the year, like a senior public servant going to Disney World; the Administrator going wherever she pleased and then causing legal constitutional concerns; the Police Commissioner dancing for the Chief Minister and a deeply unpopular NT Labor Party winning re-election as the public service and net debt levels grew to record heights.

EDITORIAL: As the tumultuous year that was 2020 takes its final gasps, the NT Independent is looking back at the year in news with our three-part series on the stories that made headlines – many of which likely wouldn’t have happened had this online paper not existed. And we feel we need to continue, despite the government’s attempts to silence us.

This is the first instalment of the NT Independent’s 2020 Year in Review, in which we highlight the stories that made news this year. In Part 1, we recall political scandals and cover-ups and proposals for nightclubs on the beach and secret China agreements being exposed.

Paramedics have responded to two incidents over the weekend, one where a child spilt boiling water on her lap, and another where two people who tried to break up a dog fight were attacked by the dogs.

The future for more than 40 Indigenous people living in a Jabiru town camp slated for demolition to make way for a makeover worth hundreds of millions of dollars, including a luxury hotel and glamping, is in limbo with no official response on what will happen if, as proposed, the land is handed back to the traditional owners next year.

In case you missed it, here’s a two-minute rundown of this week’s top stories: From the Gunner government’s “misleading and incorrect” COVID-19 Financial Report, to the dismissal of professional misconduct allegations against former Labor leader Delia Lawrie’s lawyer, to an independent MLA claiming that head public servant Jodie Ryan is attempting to obstruct transparency, to a man struck to the head multiple times by a group who bumped his vehicle in Mitchell St, and three Territorians hospitalised after being bitten by snakes.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner did not leave for Christmas holidays four days early because he wanted to avoid questions about the Dan Murphy’s approval, his deputy Nicole Manison said, but it’s not entirely clear why he left early.