Chief Minister Michael Gunner’s ongoing ban of the NT Independent undermines basic democratic values and is contributing to the erosion of integrity in government, says journalist Peter Greste, who was jailed in Egypt for more than a year while on assignment for Al-Jazeera in 2013.
The Federal Government is handing back the Jabiru township – the centrepiece of a $446 million rejuvenation master plan – to an organisation that shares directors with an Aboriginal corporation currently under investigation by the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations for alleged financial impropriety.
Newly released internal documents show Chief Minister Michael Gunner’s taxpayer-funded trip to Hawaii in 2017 – that included an overnight stay in Sydney to meet a high-priced tailor for his wedding suit – was extended just two weeks before the official trip occurred with re-booking penalty fees covered by Territorians.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner attempted to exclude a democratically-elected federal politician from participating in a media conference concerning federal funding to the Northern Territory, the NT Independent can reveal.
The ABC’s claims that it has managed its conflict of interest with Chief Minister Michael Gunner’s wife Kristy O’Brien have been dismissed as untrue by ABC journalists speaking to Media Watch.
EXCLUSIVE: A mysterious trip Chief Minister Michael Gunner took to Sydney to meet a high-priced tailor in a hotel room, on the way home from an official international state visit in 2017, was kept off official travel reporting records while still being picked up by taxpayers, the NT Independent can reveal.
ABC managing director David Anderson has committed to personally review how the Darwin newsroom has managed a conflict of interest concerning Chief Minister Michael Gunner’s wife Kristy O’Brien, following questions by CLP Senator Sam McMahon at Senate Estimates in Canberra.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner has delivered his first NT Budget as Treasurer that will see spending continue relatively unabated over the next decade as the Territory continues to plunge into record debt and deficit.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner’s office has refused to release the agreements he has signed with Chinese officials since coming to power in 2016, failing to provide a valid legal reason for blocking the public’s right to know.
Tuesday’s NT budget is expected to show little to no progress has been made on reigning in government expenditure, as taxpayers picked up an $18 million tab for government spin doctors last year that led to a departmental budget blow-out.
The Country Liberal Party has renewed calls for truancy officers amid revelations that less than a third of Indigenous students attend school more than four days per week, but the education union says there is no evidence to support the “punitive approach”.
The integrity of ABC Darwin’s reporting has been called into question with at least three stories written by Chief Minister Michael Gunner’s wife Kristy O’Brien over the last two years flagged as potentially biased and serving Mr Gunner’s political interests.
