High-profile federal politicians and community health groups have backed independent NT MLA Justine Davis’ move to introduce reforms to the Territory’s gambling regulations, that she says currently put industry profits over people through an NT-based regulator with weak conflict of interest controls and lax regulations that cause harm across the country.
Darwin Lord Mayor Peter Styles says council has an “obligation” to private Darwin businesses to “open doors for them” in China, which is why it’s necessary for him, council chief executive Simone Saunders and two other staffers to charge ratepayers an undisclosed amount for a trade mission to Guangzhou in December that he also confusingly said on Tuesday is “not necessarily [about] trade”. Potential conflicts of interest with Mr Styles’ personal business interests, which were raised last week, have still not been addressed.
Trade and Business Minister Robyn Cahill, who pitched the Northern Territory as the “data centre capital of the globe”, was in Texas last month on a trade mission when the state’s Republican Governor ordered a sudden moratorium on data centres, citing the need to investigate environmental impacts and ordering no further government incentives because “Texans must come first”, but Ms Cahill’s office has refused to say what she learned on the taxpayer-funded trip.
The Northern Territory ranks last in household energy performance policy on the Energy Efficiency Council’s inaugural national scorecard, finding the jurisdiction had no government-provided consumer information or household energy efficiency incentive program, and new homes retain a 5-star minimum, rather than the National Construction Code’s 7-star minimum requirement.
The CLP Government has spent $6.5 million on new “high-tech” tasers with increased fire power for the NT Police that will be rolled out first in Wadeye, Alice Springs and Katherine, which the Chief Minister says is all about “safety”.
Roughly 70 per cent of employees at the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education feel motivated to do their best work, but only 46 per cent think communication is satisfactory, according to a new staff survey, with staff reportedly split between feeling there are positive and supportive teams and broader concerns about toxicity, lack of psychological safety and the lack of merit-based appointments, the last of which was the subject of a recommendation made by the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption in 2023.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service has been awarded a 10-year, $625 million contract to provide aeromedical retrieval and inter-hospital transfer services in the Top End, Big Rivers, and East Arnhem regions, but the government has refused to explain why the contract was awarded so late and how much taxpayers will pay Careflight while it continues the service until next July.
The NT’s aged care system poses increased risks of hospital harm for elderly residents, a new report by the Australian Medical Association has warned, adding the Territory is the only jurisdiction that has seen the total number of residential aged care places remain unchanged for the past six years while home care packages have decreased from a decade ago.
Self-described “international trade and development consultant” Peter Styles will lead a nine-day, ratepayer-funded international trade delegation to China and Vietnam later this year in his role as Darwin Lord Mayor, which he says will strengthen international partnerships, promote Darwin as a globally-connected tropical capital, and create opportunities for strategic collaboration across Asia, but council will not say how much the trip is expected to cost.
The prosecution’s case against Federal Labor MP Luke Gosling for the alleged assault of the Administrator could see five foreign officials from the Thai embassy dragged into the legal fight, which the defence argued could clear Mr Gosling, but the officials may invoke “diplomatic immunity”, the court heard Wednesday afternoon.
The Attorney-General and head public servant were provided a shortlist of candidates for the top executive position in the Attorney-General’s Department back in April, but took no action to interview any of the candidates before quietly appointing the acting executive to the permanent role last week while failing to explain why the proper recruitment process was initiated but not followed for the key position.
A woman faces an assault charge for allegedly spitting in a shop worker’s face on Friday and a 17-year-old girl has been charged with physically assaulting the same worker, while the employee in turn is being investigated over her use of OC spray, including spraying it into a vehicle carrying the alleged offenders while two young children were sitting inside, with police not disclosing the children’s ages.
