The Finocchiaro CLP Government has inexplicably chosen “canapes over cost-of-living relief” for Territorians in last week’s budget, critics say, after directing an additional $1 million to controversial Administrator David Connolly’s office and a further $2 million it didn’t have last year to Protocol NT – the body that organises official government functions and special invite-only events.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has named two controversial picks to lead the newly established Integrity and Ethics Commissioner agency, with former Ombudsman Peter Shoyer appointed commissioner and former police commissioner Reece Kershaw appointed chief executive of the new anti-corruption body that will replace the ICAC amid unresolved questions about the potential for political interference. Mr Kershaw is close friends with current NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole.
One of CLP backbencher Clinton Howe’s former electorate officers has filed an unfair dismissal application with the Fair Work Commission stating she was fired because she refused to “falsify electorate information” in a database that secretly stores personal information about constituents for the Country Liberal Party and was subjected to bullying and “unreasonable” micromanaging in the office.
Former New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb, who has connections with staff in the Chief Minister’s office, has been appointed by the CLP Government to lead an “independent review” into the Territory’s child protection system, along with former acting ICAC Greg Shanahan, which was called this morning in response to the abduction and alleged murder of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby in Alice Springs.
The Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair is celebrating its 20-year anniversary and will feature more than 80 Indigenous-owned art centres from Australia’s remote regions, organisers say.
Alice Springs Town Council has released its draft 2026/27 Municipal Plan and a new four-year Strategic Plan, proposing a 4.7 per cent average rate increase alongside a $22.6 million capital works program which includes $8.9 million on Todd Street Mall upgrades and for the new library.
An ICAC review into the hiring and promotion practices of an NT Government department that commenced the same month its chief executive was controversially appointed has revealed “several recurring gaps…that present improper conduct risks” with recruitment, including that conflicts of interest were not adequately managed, that applicants’ qualifications were inconsistently verified, and that advertised positions took on average 67 days to fill.
A television cameraman says he was doused in the face with capsicum spray by a police officer without warning while covering last week’s riot outside Alice Springs Hospital, where officers also threatened to arrest members of the media, but Police Commissioner Martin Dole has flip-flopped on his stance that it should not have happened, now saying the attack on the cameraman was “appropriate in the circumstances”.
A 15-year-old male armed with a Japanese sword was arrested and charged after he allegedly threatened to kill a woman and her child on an Alice Springs street Sunday evening, NT Police said.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government cut funding to Legal Aid NT by more than $3.2 million this financial year, the director of the organisation has finally revealed, which appears to directly refute repeated claims by Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby that funding increased, while more service cuts are expected.
The Chan Ward by-election for the City of Darwin Council has been set for Saturday, May 30, following the resignation of councillor Ed Smelt, who was elected to Parliament at the Nightcliff by-election in March. The cost of holding the by-election has not been disclosed.
The number of new home builds in the Territory plummeted last year to near-record lows, a new report has found, with the NT delivering 69 per cent fewer homes than required with only 449 homes delivered last year.
