EDITORIAL: The bigger problem for the ABC is that they cannot refute the notion that stories have been suppressed due to a soft spot for their reporter’s husband. The irony here is also striking. The ABC is conducting its business the same way the Gunner Government does: disregarding its own integrity policies because adhering to them is too difficult.
The Chief Minister’s Office helped arrange for an ABC journalist to deliver a political “morning tea” speaking engagement, sparking fresh concerns over an unresolved conflict of interest at the public broadcaster and how it covers the Gunner Government.
Newly amended disclosure returns show Territory Alliance raised more than three quarters of a million dollars during its disastrous 2020 NT election campaign – more than the now Opposition CLP did – with the bulk of that coming from leader Terry Mills’ newly amended donation of $366,000, the NT Electoral Commission reported.
A visibly angry Chief Minister Michael Gunner demanded a journalist stop asking questions at a press conference Friday afternoon after she said his explanation for scrapping the legislative scrutiny committee “doesn’t pass the pub test”.
NT Country Liberals Senator Sam McMahon has lashed out at an ambitious solar project earmarked for the Barkly region – billed to be the largest in the world – labelling it a “great hoax”.
The NT public service continues to grow at a higher rate than the population despite the Gunner Government’s repeated pledges over the last two years to implement a hiring freeze, the annual State of the Service report shows.
Territory Alliance has helped make up Member for Araluen Robyn Lambley’s mind on whether to leave the party by booting her out, but she has hit back announcing she will resign as their only elected representative.
The Opposition CLP and Territory Alliance used the first sittings of the new Parliament to attack the Gunner Government over its move to scrap integrity measures it introduced in 2016 that it said would “restore trust in government”.
One of the Gunner Government’s first orders of business after being sworn in for its second term today will be to scrap the scrutiny body that provided oversight of its proposed laws, which critics say will reduce government transparency.
An audio recording of last week’s contentious Darwin City Council meeting refutes council’s official claim that a crucial vote introduced at the eleventh hour to defer a decision on the RSL clubhouse proposal took place.
Darwin Mayor Kon Vatskalis’s sudden deferral of a crucial council vote on the RSL’s proposed Esplanade establishment was influenced by an undisclosed letter of a legal nature – not solely over claims of an Indigenous sacred site, the NT Independent can reveal.
Former Territory Alliance leader Terry Mills donated more than $200,000 to his own now obliterated party, while Labor and the CLP both increased their campaign donations by close to 60 per cent in the election’s waning days, disclosures reveal.
