A rocket launching company the previous Labor government invested more than $5 million of public funds into has gone into liquidation, with the Chief Minister mocking Labor again for their poor investment decisions, but refusing to answer questions about whether she would now call a public inquiry into how Labor wasted millions of taxpayer money investing in doomed private business enterprises.
David Connolly was sworn in as the next Administrator of the Northern Territory Friday morning in a red carpet ceremony, starting his tenure by saying he wanted to thank the Larrakia people and “pay respects to them all, past and present”, while outside a Larrakia elder was arrested at what was a peaceful protest of more than a hundred people, which descended into brief chaos after the arrest.
A new video showing NT Administrator David Connolly manhandling anti-fracking activist and current independent Nightcliff candidate Phil Scott at a business conference in 2023, leading to a violent shove and water allegedly thrown in Mr Scott’s face, has been described as “deeply disturbing” and conduct unbecoming of an Administrator. WATCH THE VIDEO HERE.
NT Administrator David Connolly has issued an apology for his past social media posts, which he claimed again he did not intend to cause offence with, but stopped short of addressing other comments he has made and positions he has taken against Indigenous Territorians, with the apology coming on the eve of his swearing-in.
A day after the Chief Minister lost her cool on radio over a scheduled protest against the appointment of NT Administrator David Connolly on Friday, Speaker Robyn Lambley has shut the rally down citing security concerns for “the dignitaries involved”, but the Governor-General’s office said last night neither it or the AFP raised any concerns, with event organisers now looking for a new venue while pondering legal action against the government.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro erupted on radio Monday morning in frustration to the public outrage over the appointment and scheduled swearing-in of David Connolly as Administrator this Friday, following the cross-bench and Opposition’s move to boycott the ceremony because of Mr Connolly’s past racist and sexist public comments, with Ms Finocchiaro arguing that “people should have some respect” for the new Administrator.
CLP backbencher Tanzil Rahman needs to publicly explain the bullying allegations that were levelled against him by two female parliamentary staffers, independent MLAs and the Opposition have said, which follows the Chief Minister’s attempts to keep the “sensitive HR matter” secret, which she claimed was “out of respect for all parties”, despite the matter already being resolved.
Bullying allegations against CLP MLA Tanzil Rahman made by two female parliamentary staffers have “been resolved” as part of a “sensitive HR matter”, Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has claimed, but questions remain over how the situation was handled and what the Chief Minister knew about the allegations.
The byelection to select the next Member for Nightcliff will be held on March 7, with the Greens and Labor announcing their candidates out of the gate, while the CLP is yet to put a candidate forward.
UPDATED: Kat McNamara, the first NT Greens member elected to NT Parliament, has resigned “effective immediately”, citing health reasons, while a federal senator says McNamara was insulted and “intimidated” by government while in Parliament.
EDITORIAL: Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro’s defence of choosing David Connolly as Administrator this week has done nothing to calm rising tensions in the wider community and instead raised questions about what type of agenda she’s driving that was not fully disclosed to Territorians ahead of the last NT election.
The Opposition and independent MLAs spectacularly walked out of Parliament Thursday in protest after a series of fiery exchanges about the appointment of Administrator David Connolly, which started when respected Yolngu leader and MLA for Mulka Yingiya Guyula was gagged from attempting to ask the Chief Minister about the appointment, which he said was for his constituents who want to know why a man with a history of making racially vilifying comments about Aboriginal people was given the highly respected role.
