Chief Minister Natasha Fyles has set March 18 as the date for the Arafura by-election, following a state funeral that will be held on March 1 for the former member who died late last month.

The Labor MLA for Arafura has died suddenly, with Chief Minister Natasha Fyles paying tribute to him in a statement.

How could the disgusting and depraved acts of a child sex predator in the Labor Party’s midst be kept so quiet, even after he was charged with raping a child? How could the social set in Darwin, who love to gossip, not be gossiping? So who in Labour knew what and when about Kent Rowe?

Territory Labor no longer has the moral authority to lead the Northern Territory or bring about much-needed reforms to reduce sexual and family violence after senior party members expressed their support in character references for convicted child rapist Kent Rowe ahead of his sentencing, a Senator says.

EXCLUSIVE: Senior Territory Labor figures, including a former deputy chief minister and the partner of a Supreme Court Justice, expressed their support for convicted paedophile Kent Rowe to the courts ahead of sentencing earlier this month because of his “successful” contributions to the party, the NT Independent can reveal.

Faced with an ongoing crime crisis across the Territory, the Fyles Government has made the NT the first jurisdiction in the country to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12.

EXCLUSIVE: Convicted child rapist Kent Rowe resigned from the Territory Labor Party that he ran for more than a decade because of its “toxic environment and people”, the judge sentencing Rowe for predatory sex crimes was told earlier this month.

The Fyles Labor Government has shut down a censure motion brought by the Opposition for not publicly condemning the actions of their former party secretary and ministerial adviser Kent Rowe for repeatedly raping a child, while questions have also been raised about the response the Deputy Chief Minister gave when asked about when she first became aware of the sex crimes.

The Fyles Government has used its numbers in Parliament to pass sweeping changes to the Anti-Discrimination Act that it says will protect “the most vulnerable” Territorians but that critics say will hamper free speech.

Proposed “radical and dangerous” changes to the NT’s Anti-Discrimination Act are being brought about to further Attorney-General Chansey Paech’s personal agenda and are not in the best interests of Territorians, an independent MLA says.

Territory Labor has refused to publicly condemn the actions of former party powerbroker Kent Rowe after he was sentenced Wednesday to five years jail for the repeated rape of a female relative while she was a child, with calls for the party to explain who knew about his crimes and when.

EXCLUSIVE: The Fyles Government has refused to say what it will cost to build the new Darwin city art gallery, which in June was projected to cost $50 million, but appears to have now blown out to about $80 million, as part of the overall Civic and State Square redevelopment, which has also seen major cost blowouts.