The Fyles Government’s “knife crime reduction strategy” will not include any specific law changes, instead relying on de-escalation training for retail and hospitality workers and other measures, which the Opposition said amounted to “choosing cuddles over consequences”.
EXCLUSIVE: Previously redacted government documents related to the ongoing corruption probe into the NT Labor Government’s alleged misuse of public funds during the 2020 election have finally been released by the Office of the Chief Minister, exposing a Labor politician’s name who was onboard taxpayer-funded campaign flights that the government fought to keep secret for nearly two years.
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles has hired Michael Gunner’s former media adviser a year out from the 2024 NT general election through a secret contract with a newly created Victoria-based consultancy company with links to Federal Labor.
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles defended her government’s continued illegal ban on the NT Independent during her National Press Club address on Tuesday by lying to the public, after appearing to be caught off-guard when asked by ABC’s Laura Tingle why her government does not allow this award-winning news outlet to attend press conferences.
The estimated cost of the proposed National Aboriginal Art Gallery in Alice Springs has increased three-fold since its 2017 announcement, new figures show, while the Territory’s acknowledged contribution has also increased by almost 40 per cent since last March.
The Fyles Labor Government will today “strengthen and modernise” its sexual offence laws, it said, including forbidding good character references for child sex offenders for reduced sentences, a practice Labor engaged in last year during sentencing of its former party secretary for repeatedly raping a child.
Allegations of political influence in the ICAC’s investigation into Labor’s alleged misuse of public funds during the 2020 NT election have been raised by independent MLAs, following revelations a party member with undisclosed conflicts of interest was involved, while Commissioner Michael Riches has admitted “errors have been made”.
Speaker Mark Monaghan’s decision to permit two of his Labor colleagues to use their taxpayer-funded fuel cards for personal interstate holidays was issued secretly on December 23 to an internal government server with no notice – five days after one MLA had already embarked on his trip – and nine days before it came into effect, new documents show.
EXCLUSIVE: The major ICAC investigation into the Territory Labor Government’s misuse of public funds for political campaigning during the 2020 election has been compromised, the NT Independent can reveal, after an ICAC staffer involved in the investigation failed to disclose two potential conflicts of interest, including that he had previously discussed a career on the fifth floor with a key witness.
EXCLUSIVE: The Office of the ICAC hired a Labor Party member last year to undertake unspecified legal duties in the organisation, the NT Independent can reveal, which comes following revelations a CLP operative was hired last month as an investigator that Commissioner Michael Riches contends now was an “organisational failure”.
EXCLUSIVE: Anti-corruption commissioner Michael Riches sent an extraordinary letter to the Chief Minister on Saturday, following public criticism of his office hiring a CLP operative as an investigator, in which he blamed the Fyles Labor Government’s funding cuts for the inability to attract suitable investigators and called for changes to the law to forbid politically-aligned people working in his office.
EXCLUSIVE: The NT’s anti-corruption commissioner has defended hiring a CLP executive member to oversee reports to his office, after Commissioner Michael Riches first indicated he was not aware of his new investigator’s political ties, the NT Independent can reveal.
