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.

The Fyles Government has refused to release the travel costs of a senior public servant who once charged taxpayers to go to Disney World – and a former fifth floor staffer – because it claims that showing taxpayers where the pair travelled for a 10-month period would be an “unreasonable interference with the operations” of the Chief Minister’s department.

The Fyles Government has once again put a design and construction tender out for the Mandorah jetty with Infrastructure Minister Eva Lawler saying it remained on track to open by the end of 2024, despite the government having originally said it would be open in May this year and failing to get anyone to build it from an earlier tender.

Labor Minister Lauren Moss charged taxpayers more than $360,000 to fit out her new electorate office, government documents show, which is more money than she committed to community suicide prevention programs for the year.

Independent MLA Robyn Lambley was forced to withdraw a comment in Parliament about convicted child rapist and former Labor secretary Kent Rowe, after Labor Speaker Mark Monaghan ruled the comment “offensive” despite Ms Lambley sharing proven facts.