The Finocchiaro CLP Government’s rush to merge the NT’s anti-corruption watchdog into a new ‘super’ Integrity and Ethics Commission with other statutory bodies – following a secretive review with no public consultation – has raised concerns from national integrity experts and crossbench MLAs, who are all questioning the government’s motives for restructuring its integrity systems now.
Kon Vatskalis has dug his heels in following the NT Electoral Commission declaring Peter Styles the next Lord Mayor of Darwin on Saturday, writing on social media Sunday morning that he “will not accept the result as real and/or fair” while questions remain over alleged electoral fraud involving fake how-to-vote cards delivered to polling centres by Mr Styles’s wife.
A new 220-student special education secondary school will be built in Palmerston at a cost of $110 million, the Finocchiaro Government has announced.
The ambulance that was sent to treat a 10-year-old child who ended up dying in an Alice Springs home last month was downgraded from a priority one response to a less urgent one by St John Ambulance NT, the union representing paramedics has said, but the ambulance service rejected that the call was downgraded and said the response was appropriate.
The frontman of famed Australian pub band the Painters & Dockers Paulie Stewart will speak in Darwin this month, sharing stories from his memoir, tracing his journey from the murder of his brother Tony Stewart, one of the Balibo Five, to a lifetime of music and advocacy.
A 58-year-old man who suffered serious head injuries in Katherine on Saturday night was found Sunday afternoon in the same location, with NT Police calling for the public’s help to determine how the man was injured so badly he needed to be airlifted to Darwin for treatment.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has been named a finalist for the McKinnon Prize for political leader of the year for her “hardline stance” on crime, “channelling public sentiment into decisive leadership” and for doing what most chief ministers do by taking on the role of Police Minister, as questions remain over who nominated her for the award and when.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government will roll the Office of the ICAC into a new “Integrity and Ethics Commission”, following a secret review into the NT’s integrity bodies that the Chief Minister confusingly says she ordered only a few weeks ago.
A 36-year-old unlicensed man who was allegedly driving dangerously around Leanyer on Thursday afternoon while high on meth was apprehended by a police dog after attempting to flee police on foot, NT Police said.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government says it will permanently tear out the vines at the Cavanagh Street shade structure, but will not replace them, stating the structure will remain with new lights installed to create a “modern, ambient streetscape”, while not providing any costs for the new project.
Darwin’s new international standard motocross grand prix track has been finished, costing at least five times what the former Labor Government estimated it would, with the Motocross Grand Prix of Australia to be held there in two weeks.
Fake how-to-vote cards distributed to polling centres purportedly for Darwin mayoral candidate Amye Un and another candidate that had their preferences altered has led to an NT Electoral Commission investigation, with the Territory’s anti-corruption body also briefed on the situation, as current mayoral frontrunner Peter Styles and candidate Leah Potter face allegations of breaching the Electoral Act.
