Ministerial staff sitting on selection panels for public service positions, a department CEO keeping his job after a judge found he inflicted a mental health injury on an employee, and allegations of a police commissioner being influenced by politicians to lay a murder charge against a police officer, have all contributed to the NT’s status as a failed state, Dr Don Fuller writes.
The iconic Wangi Falls has reopened for the Dry season earlier than anticipated and will see a new “crocodile deterrent fence” installed to replace the previous structure, the government said, in an effort to keep visitors and rangers safe.
The CLP Government has signed a deal with the Dolphins National Rugby League team to host three matches in Darwin over the next three years, with the announcement coming a day after the Chief Minister reportedly attended the State of Origin match in the NRL’s corporate box, while the costs of the taxpayer-funded deal are being kept secret.
A two-hour hearing into the potential misuse of taxpayer money and other misconduct at the Darwin Waterfront Corporation has been quickly scheduled for Tuesday by a CLP-dominated parliamentary committee, following a referral from the Opposition last week, but the committee has yet to seek internal documents from the corporation as evidence to inform its investigation, the NT Independent understands.
UPDATED: The cause of death of a 24-year-old Yuendumu man who died while being arrested by NT Police officers on Tuesday afternoon at an Alice Springs supermarket is still unknown following an initial autopsy, police said Wednesday afternoon, while political leaders have called for the community to remain calm as the investigation continues.
A 37-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a female under 16 years of age, who was not known to him, NT Police said.
Darwin Waterfront Corporation chair Patrick Bellot has offered confidential briefings to select elected officials about the Waterfront scandal, but has declined the NT Independent’s request to share his “briefing” with the public, amid concerns the information he has offered has not been independently verified and could be a breach of his duties under the Corporations Act.
The Finocchiaro Government has rejected a presumption in favour of NT public servants working from home, as well as the removal of a cap on the amount of days they can spend working from home, the Community and Public Sector Union has said, while Public Service Minister Jo Hersey said the government would not reduce the existing flexible work arrangements, but would not say what its work from home policy was.
Former ICAC Michael Riches “had a thing for pretty girls in the office” an investigation into his conduct as the NT’s anti-corruption watchdog has revealed, according to one former staffer, while 15 people described Mr Riches’s leadership style as “erratic, controlling, and awkward socially”, with one describing his office as “the most horrible place I’ve ever worked”.
Rental affordability is continuing to worsen across the Northern Territory, a new report by the NT Council of Social Service has found, with the body warning the rising cost of living in the NT is “concerning”.
CLP backbencher Tanzil Rahman has been selected to attend the McKinnon Institute’s Advanced Political Leadership program that aims to enhance and develop “high quality political leadership”, particularly for MLAs who are “potential ministers in the short to medium term”.
UPDATED: A 24-year-old Aboriginal man who was restrained by NT Police at the Coles supermarket in Alice Springs on Tuesday following an alleged altercation with a security guard has died, NT Police said, with the death now being investigated as a death in custody.
