Webjet and Tourism NT are offering discounted flights to Alice Springs for travel during 2025, as part of its ‘Love Letters to Alice’ campaign to boost tourism amidst rising crime rates and declining business confidence.
Sex assault at fast-food joint, domestic violence stabbing reported by police over the weekend
A 19-year-old female was allegedly sexually assaulted in the bathroom of an Alice Springs fast-food restaurant around 6:30am Saturday morning, NT Police said, following two reports of domestic violence incidents over the weekend across the NT, including a stabbing.
More questionable DPP hiring practices revealed, including adviser to Attorney-General
EXCLUSIVE: Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb was involved in more questionable hiring practices in his office that do not appear to have followed proper processes – outside of his own family members – the NT Independent can reveal, including hiring one lawyer to a non-advertised role last year who is now a senior adviser to the Attorney-General.
Former ‘catfish cop’ sentenced over dating app subterfuge
Disgraced former NT Police detective Wayne Newell has been sentenced after pleading guilty to one count of using a carriage service to harass as part of a strange case that the NT Police top brass attempted to keep out of the public spotlight.
Secret ICAC report into Colleen Gwynne debacle publicly released
CLP Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby released a secret ICAC report in Parliament Thursday that probed the NT Police’s and DPP’s pursuit of former children’s commissioner Colleen Gwynne for hiring a mate for a senior job, finding the previous Labor government entered into an undisclosed payout deal with Ms Gwynne after her trial was aborted, but before the DPP could appeal the judge’s decision.
CLP government to recover public housing rent arrears, evict unruly tenants
The CLP Government announced it will move to recover $39 million in unpaid rent from public housing tenants and expediting evictions for those involved in antisocial behaviour, aiming to promote accountability among all tenants, but community groups remain concerned that evicting tenants will not significantly reduce crime at public housing complexes.
One arrested in Gangs Task Force drug bust
An alleged member of the Mongols was arrested for drug offences on Friday, in connection to a Gangs Task Force raid of a Palmerston residence last month that resulted in the seizure of more than $130,000 in cash and 60g of Ecstasy tablets, NT Police said.
Editorial: Chief Minister’s flawed handling of the Murphy scandal erodes the public’s trust
EDITORIAL: What’s clear from this whole sordid scandal is that nobody in a position of power in the Northern Territory wanted to do anything about Murphy’s improper conduct when it was presented to them by an interstate retired judge in the ICAC’s report last month, which points to the overall integrity deficit that continues to infect the Northern Territory’s elected party officials and public institutions.
Former ‘catfish cop’ pleads guilty to one charge
Disgraced former NT Police detective Wayne Newell pleaded guilty to one count of using a carriage service to harass when he appeared in Darwin Local Court this week.
US troops back in Darwin for regional ops, training
US Marines have arrived in Darwin this week, marking the beginning of a six-month deployment for training and operations as an air-ground taskforce.
Territory Coordinator Bill passed in late night parliamentary session
The Territory now has a ‘Coordinator’, following a late-night session of Parliament that saw the CLP Government use its numbers to pass the controversial legalisation that will create a new government position with the powers to circumvent existing public safeguards, that Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said would “redefine the way business is done in the Northern Territory”.
Murphy officially terminated, no word on hiring panel for new police commissioner
Police commissioner Michael Murphy has been officially terminated from the role, the Chief Minister has said, although there was no update provided on when a new commissioner will be hired and how that hiring panel will be managed.