Infrastructure Minister Eva Lawler has rubbished an independent engineer’s report into safety issues at TIO Stadium, saying her “advice” from unnamed advisers is that the building is “safe” and fire hydrant water pressure issues resolved, despite the report clearly showing the building’s water pressure is substandard and could “impact life and safety” at the facility.
Labor Member for Daly, Dheran Young, is currently traveling overseas while the volatile “humanitarian situation” in Wadeye worsens by the day, with his ill-timed trip also wreaking havoc on Budget Estimates planning, which has seen meetings postponed because the government cannot fulfil its commitment of three committee members.
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles has unveiled her new Cabinet, that will see Nicole Manison stripped of the police portfolio and Eva Lawler named Treasurer.
The NT’s head public servant Jodie Ryan has resigned from her position effective Monday, as the fallout from former chief minister Michael Gunner’s shock resignation last week continues.
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles has named Nicole Manison as her deputy, keeping her in the role she has held since Michael Gunner’s Labor government was first elected in 2016, in a move seen as mending dividing factions in the party.
UPDATED: Natasha Fyles has been selected by her Labor parliamentary colleagues as the new Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, telling Territorians that she will “put my own mark” on the leadership after nearly six years of rule by Michael Gunner.
Human rights lawyers and Aboriginal justice groups have said the NT government’s new law putting a $15,300 cap on false imprisonment compensation would reduce government accountability in prisons, and it went against the government’s own commitment to the Convention against Torture which Australia ratified in 2017.
Nicole Manison has refused to publicly say whether she is putting her hand up to be the next Chief Minister, but guaranteed Territorians a new chief would be chosen on Friday morning to provide “stability”.
ANALYSIS: The scandal engulfing Michael Gunner in the days leading up to his resignation goes to the heart of the NT’s democracy, reaching not only into the highest political office in the Territory, but also directly into the highest office in the public service.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner resigned while he and his office are currently under investigation by the NT’s anti-corruption body, the ICAC and an independent MLA have confirmed.
UPDATED: Chief Minister Michael Gunner has announced his shock resignation while delivering this morning’s budget in Parliament.
UPDATED: Treasurer and Chief Minister Michael Gunner says the Territory’s finances are in a better position than previously forecast, thanks to an unanticipated increase in federal GST payments figures show, with minor cost-savings made by the government, which he claimed will result in a surplus budget by 2026 – the same year net debt is scheduled to reach more than $9.4 billion.
