The applicants of a Federal Court action seeking details of a secret deal Darwin Council signed with a developer to build a 21-storey civic centre-private office tower say they have dropped the original case because a court date would be too late to stop construction, but said they are still looking at a claim to stop millions of dollars in car park levies being spent on the building and instead returned to developers and property owners who have paid the fees.
EXCLUSIVE: Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has defended hiring former low-level bureaucrat and one-time gas lobbyist Stuart Knowles as the Territory Coordinator, claiming on radio that he was hand-selected for the role without going through a public recruitment process because of his “vast experience” in the government and private industry and for his record of delivering “major projects”, but his work background suggests neither claim is accurate, the NT Independent can reveal.
NT public servants will have a redeployment option taken from them and the Commissioner for Public Employment will be able to make determinations about their employment outside of the current enterprise agreement under a proposal put forward amid ongoing negotiations, the Community and Public Sector Union says, adding it could result in job cuts.
Eleven youths and two adults were arrested in connection to a string of stolen vehicles across Darwin overnight that saw one stolen ute crashed on the highway north of Adelaide River, resulting in two adults and two youths arrested and taken to hospital with undisclosed injuries, NT Police said, with other offenders still on the run.
Nearly 200 more Banned Drinkers Orders have been taken out against people in Katherine between March and April, which the NT Police said is part of “proactive measures” to reduce spiralling crime and antisocial behaviour due to a “sudden surge of people” in the troubled town.
UPDATED: A 38-year-old man with a string of drink-driving priors who allegedly fled the scene of a fatal Palmerston car crash on Friday was arrested over the weekend and later charged with multiple offences including hit and run causing death, NT Police said.
We already know the Northern Territory Government cannot keep the public safe, while openly applauding and engaging in unchecked widespread corruption, but on Tuesday we were provided hard evidence the government cannot manage its own finances, ticking the final box for federal administrative intervention.
A 25-year-old Katherine man has been arrested and charged with two counts of rape and other offences in connection to the alleged sexual assault of a 16-year-old, NT Police said.
Delays and cancellations to low-tide ferry services at Cullen Bay due to seasonal weather and sedimentation build up has prompted an urgent maintenance dredging this month.
The cronyism exposed at the Waterfront Corporation is the latest illustration of the perception of ongoing graft, corruption and nepotism in the public service, which is part of the wider dysfunction in the Territory that has led to a failed state, writes Dr Don Fuller in his first instalment examining the major governance failings that have besieged the Northern Territory since self-government.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government has passed reforms to the NT Sacred Sites Act, with Opposition and crossbench MLAs accusing the government of amending the legislation to help their “mates build a hotel at the Darwin Waterfront”, while others have criticised the lack of consultation with traditional owners.
Interim Territory Coordinator Stuart Knowles was awarded a high-paying, four-year contract by Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro on Thursday that was not publicly recruited, and comes amid unresolved concerns over how animal abuse charges against him were dropped by another public servant he currently works with, after Mr Knowles expressed fears about losing his government job in late 2015 over the charges.
