The Albanese Government has announced it will open a Darwin registry of the newly formed Administrative Review Tribunal to make it easier for Territorians to seek an independent merit review of government decisions, a move which follows the Finocchiaro Government announcing it would remove third party merit reviews of its decisions on planning, petroleum, and water.
The Finocchiaro Government will employ an executive on close to $250,000 a year to oversee the renovation of prisons and the construction of a new prison and work camps.
NT Police are investigating the circumstances around the death of a 39-year-old Humpty Doo woman who was taken to Royal Darwin Hospital on Monday morning after falling “seriously ill”, with a man known to the woman later arrested.
The independence of the Northern Territory Auditor-General’s office has been identified as “the most vulnerable to executive influence” of any jurisdiction in the country, according to an independent review of the AG’s office, with the current public sector watchdog calling for funding pressures and internal system problems to be addressed by the Finocchiaro Government to ensure its crucial independence continues.
An NT delegation led by Minister for Trade, Business and Asian Relations Robyn Cahill is on its way to Indonesia to strengthen the Territory’s economic partnership by engaging with the Indonesian government and local business representatives, the CLP Government said. SEE THE COST
Staffers in former Labor chief minister Michael Gunner’s office used taxpayer money and resources to perform party political campaign work during the lead up to the 2020 NT election while knowing it was “inherently improper”, a new report by the Office of the ICAC has found, but again nobody has been held responsible. READ HOW THEY PULLED IT OFF
A proposed three per cent pay rise for all public servants by the Finocchiaro Government was described by the police union as an insult, while the Community and Public Sector Union said skilled workers were leaving the public service and the Northern Territory altogether for better pay and conditions elsewhere.
“Special” corrections officers whose training requirements have not been publicly defined will be able to work in Northern Territory prisons following the Finocchiaro Government passing “urgent” legislative changes through Parliament this week, but the United Workers Union has warned the move has opened up the prison system to private labour hire, with a petition being circulated calling for a vote of no confidence in the Corrections Commissioner.
Charles Darwin University has cut departmental budgets and will see up to 20 staff positions terminated, in accordance with a pre-Christmas prophecy from vice-chancellor Scott Bowman, who told staff in late November the university’s “finances lie in ruins” and a “bloodbath” of staff cuts was on the cards before skipping town for early and extended leave.
UPDATED: Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro appeared on Thursday to walk back from her $3 million election pledge to give long-serving NT Police officers a bonus to keep experienced cops on the beat, after being questioned about it in Parliament, but later said she was still “committed” to a bonus although it is unclear how it will work, how much it will cost and how much police officers will receive.
NT Parliament erupted into a public mud-slinging match on Wednesday afternoon, with politicians from both major political parties throwing their past indiscretions and scandals at one another during debate about “improving integrity in Parliament”.
The CLP Government will table a new bill to provide NT Police with “express powers” to access private property without a search warrant for offenders who breach parole or domestic violence orders.
