The CLP Government has rejected a motion in Parliament calling for a moratorium on data centres until a public inquiry can investigate their impact, with a Labor MLA warning the CLP is not listening to Territorians at their own peril, specifically in the rural area where the CLP is contradicting its “rural lifestyle” rhetoric by backing a major proposed data centre without consulting residents about its impacts.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government will follow other states’ lead by mandating that the Darwin Private Hospital operator provide maternity services by law, but the move comes 16 months after the services stopped because the government failed to act on advice that it legislate for it at the time. An obstetrician has also warned it will now take at least two years for the services to return.
Sixteen-year-olds will be able to carry and use pepper spray because having access to it could be “the difference between life and death”, Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has claimed, following what she hailed as a “99 per cent success rate” of the CLP Government’s public pepper spray trial, with use and carry laws to be made permanent.
UPDATED: Roughly 1,800 Alice Springs properties remain without power 48 hours after a massive storm tore through town on Monday, with the Finocchiaro CLP Government offering residents a “one-off $250 prepaid card” to replace spoiled food – if their power remains out for at least another 24 hours – but it was announced later that significant federal disaster funding has now been made available.
More in-fighting in Territory Labor has led to mixed messaging about whether the Opposition will support independent MLA Justine Davis’ gambling reform bill that will be introduced to Parliament this week, which proposes strengthened conflicts of interest rules for NT wagering commission members, banning inducements to problem gamblers and introducing stronger penalties for operators that fail to meet their obligations.
At least 9,000 properties in Alice Springs were without power late last night as crews from across the Territory rushed to the region for restoration and clean-up efforts following a severe windstorm Monday afternoon that ripped through the town and outlying communities damaging property, pulling roofs off homes in some instances, and downing trees, with Power and Water warning the power outages could last for days.
The on-again, off-again relationship between Nine Darwin’s news bulletin and Territorians is back on again, with current owner WIN Network announcing the return of a local 30-minute news bulletin in Darwin.
NT Police is investigating a “suspicious death” in the remote community of Alpurrurulam near the Queensland border involving a teen girl who attended the local clinic early Monday morning after reportedly being physically assaulted.
The Tiger Brennan Drive and Berrimah Road overpass has been officially renamed the Luke Bowen Bridge, honouring the late agricultural leader on Monday, who professionals and loved ones remembered as a man who built bridges across business and the wider Territory.
Campsites in the Finke River area west of Alice Springs have been identified as having the “highest snake risk” of all the NT’s campsites, a new study has revealed, with death adders, crowned snakes and hooded-curl snakes all found at the five campsites in the area, but Palmerston also made an appearance on the list for a high frequency of sightings, including brown snakes.
A recent NT Police constable recruit undergoing on-the-job training has been charged with weapons offences, after he was observed carrying an imitation Glock gun at the Darwin Police Station, NT Police said, which led to a raid of the officer’s home.
UPDATED: NT Government departments including hospitals, police, courts and schools were impacted by a system-wide network failure resulting in a lack of phone and internet services for more than 12 hours Thursday, with government officials unable to get the system functioning again until close to 4pm.
