Labor’s Yiwarr McGrath has defeated independent candidate Andrew Blamey to win the Mulka by-election Saturday night, bringing the party’s total number of MLAs in NT Parliament to six after the 2024 election wipeout saw it reduced to just four bush members, but the new member enters a divided Labor parliamentary caucus.
The NT’s two major political parties will be sweating on Monday night when three generations of the Territory’s independent MLAs meet for a public panel discussion about what independents can achieve in Parliament and what voters fed up with current politicians following their parties’ interests instead of the interests of the people can do to bring about change.
Mining and Energy Minister Gerard Maley did not publicly disclose that his sister-in-law works for the company he and his government colleagues helped arrange a special land deal for that could see a massive data centre in the Darwin rural area built, the ABC reported Tuesday, while the Chief Minister has remained silent over the failure to publicly disclose.
The Labor Opposition Leader’s office paid Michael Gunner’s brother-in-law more than an MLA earns to help develop policy for the party shortly before he took an oil and gas lobbyist role earlier this year, the NT Independent can reveal, while the Opposition Leader has refused to explain if proper procurement processes were followed for the secret consultant job paid for by taxpayers.
CLP Minister Steve Edgington has publicly said he will not run for One Nation at the next federal election in the Territory when asked on Wednesday, but the NT Independent can reveal he engaged in talks with a senior party figure about leaving the Finocchiaro CLP Government to have a tilt with Pauline Hanson’s party. Mr Edgington’s advances are likely to destabilise leadership and relationships within Cabinet two years into the CLP’s term, a party source said.
Voluntary assisted dying legislation passed Parliament last night, three decades after it was first legalised, but amendments to remove restrictive clauses including the 12-month prognosis timeframe and the doctor gag clause were blocked by the CLP majority.
The Country Liberal Party has not nominated a candidate for the upcoming Mulka by-election which it dismissed Thursday as a “disruption” that will now be a contest between Labor’s candidate Yiwarr McGrath and surprise independent candidate Andrew Blamey.
The Territory’s MLAs wrestled with their personal beliefs and their duty to their constituents with plenty of tears shed while debating the proposed Rights of the Terminally Ill Bill in Parliament on Tuesday, a bill that is expected to ultimately see the NT regain its voluntary assisted dying rights this week after losing them 30 years ago.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has shot back at members of her own party, vowing not to support proposed reforms to the Rights of the Terminally Ill Bill that would see the doctor “gag clause” and the 12-month terminal prognosis conditions removed, while guaranteeing her legislation will pass this week in Parliament.
EXCLUSIVE: Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Pat Williams identified a “perceived conflict of interest” that has led him to refer the Administrator assault case against Federal Labor MP Luke Gosling to an outside jurisdiction for oversight, while questions remain over the NT Police appearing to be currently running both the investigation and prosecution against the Federal Member of Parliament with no independent direction.
Federal Labor MP Luke Gosling fronted court Friday afternoon to have his bail conditions for the alleged assault of Administrator David Connolly varied, which his lawyer used to call the prosecution’s case “incredibly weak”, stating there is no CCTV footage and no independent witnesses to the two alleged assaults that reportedly occurred 30 minutes apart at the Thai festival on July 18.
Chief Minister and Police Minister Lia Finocchiaro’s office said Thursday she was not briefed about the sensational arrest of Labor MP Luke Gosling over the alleged assault of Administrator David Connolly, but has refused to refer the police investigation to an independent agency to mitigate the perception of political interference.
