Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby has publicly announced she directly appointed Catherine Voumard as the new director of Legal Aid NT despite an independent selection panel not interviewing her for the role and recommending someone with management experience, while a high-level source in the organisation said the unilateral decision has upset the board and showed a lack of knowledge on the part of the Minister.
ANALYSIS: While some argue a federal election result should not be used to criticise the Territory Chief Minister, the Country Liberal Party itself made it a referendum on Lia in Solomon and the results were damning, raising serious concerns for the party and its elected members’ political futures.
The Finocchiaro Government has announced $455 million in operational spending for the Corrections Department in next week’s Budget, plus $117 million in spending on infrastructure, but it remains unclear where new funds are coming from, with the United Workers Union welcoming the extra money, but questioning how it would be spent.
Slow population growth and the lack of skilled labor are key factors contributing to toned-down property market growth, despite the Darwin property market posting the strongest performance among all capitals for April, new data shows.
A 51-year-old man was arrested and is facing several charges after he allegedly pointed a rifle at people in a camping area at Gunn Point and threatened to kill them, NT Police said, which led to a raid of his home and eight other firearms being seized.
Federal Labor MP Luke Gosling has won another term as the Member for Solomon following Labor’s Saturday night trouncing of the Coalition, with CLP candidate Lisa Bayliss finally conceding defeat on Sunday afternoon, while the CLP is now faced with explaining how it could not convert last August’s landslide Territory election victory into winning a single federal Lower House seat in the Territory.
Territory Coordinator Stuart Knowles’s history of cruelty to animals is of no concern to the Chief Minister or some of the biggest private companies that deal with the NT Government, with Lia Finocchiaro ruling out any action being taken against Mr Knowles over revelations his dogs were seized by animal welfare officers after suffering severe tick infestations and other health issues, while concerns over his suitability for the role have been raised.
Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby appointed a person who was not interviewed to be the new director of the beleaguered Legal Aid NT, rejecting the candidate who was recommended by an independent selection panel who had significant managerial experience inside the organisation, an internal report shows, but the Minister has refused to explain her intervention.
Several undisclosed conflicts of interest have been raised over an NT News article about a purported incident at a Darwin restaurant last year involving independent candidate for Solomon Phil Scott and Tamboran Resources CEO Joel Riddle, including the political connections of the journalist who wrote the article and the witnesses quoted.
The Northern Territory Police Association has called the Finocchiaro Government’s law and order budget preview an insult to officers who “continue to feel abandoned and undervalued” by a government with “warped priorities”, and which did not provide a figure for how much it will spend on police next year as part of its crime reduction plan.
A 20-year-old Katherine woman is facing charges for aggravated assault on an infant, NT Police said, while the baby is currently at Royal Darwin Hospital receiving medical treatment for injuries.
The sole director of a company the Health Department is negotiating with to run the hyperbaric chamber unit at Royal Darwin Hospital lived at the same address and shares the same last name as the sole director of the company that lost the contract to run the unit after it was forced into administration 18 months ago, ASIC records show.
