Politicians need to be vocal in opposition to small block subdivisions and acknowledge they are not the way planning in the Territory should be going, while their silence means they support these sardine subdivisions with no backyards, writes Gerry Wood.
Those who called in the police ultimately produced a result that was dishonest, inappropriate, against the best interests of Territorians and Australians…and contrary to both law and good practice, writes Civil Liberties Australia CEO Bill Rowlings about the APSAC conference, adding that transparency and openness is the best disinfectant for corruption; failing to expose it to educational media coverage was an opportunity gone south.
Caring for animals can be an important part of rehabilitating young people but the government seems reluctant to do something that is proven could help the Don Dale detainees, many of whom have had little or no love in their lives, writes Gerry Wood.
EDITORIAL: DIPL chief executive Andrew Kirkman will not resign and will not be sacked, Chief Minister Eva Lawler has now confirmed, after a judge found he misled the court, attempted to blackmail a female staffer, inflicted a mental health injury on her and acted in an “aggressive, threatening…and inappropriate manner” during a meeting that was secretly recorded.
ANALYSIS: If you need any evidence of a pervasive culture of bullying and cover-up in the upper echelons of the NT Public Service, then look no further than the ease at which DIPL chief executive Andrew Kirkman resorted to blackmailing a female staffer when she questioned his decision.
The Northern Territory AFL team business case claims the team will help ‘close the gap’ for Indigenous Territorians, but Dr Don Fuller argues the proposal raises high financial and social risks with a relatively low return to the community, and it is clear the AFL should provide the bulk of the funding if it wishes to expand the national competition, given its exceedingly large and ever-expanding resources.
Being required to apply for two year permits for practically every exhibit in his collection of taxidermic animals and other animal parts, including feral animals, provides no meaningful wildlife conservation, writes Stephen Barnes.
Instead of a curfew the Territory needs policies and programs to look after vulnerable people in our community, including victims of crime, and to keep kids out of gaol, keep families connected, and give people hope for the future, writes David Eldridge.
Northern Territory crocodile numbers have never been, and will never be, out of control, and instead of culling there needs to be more education, more warning signs, and tougher fines for people wilfully engaging in unsafe behaviour, writes PhD student Brandon Sideleau.
The fact that Justice Charlesworth found the Environmental Defenders Office actions in the Tiwi Islands gas pipelines case amounted to “confection”, comes as no surprise, writes Gerry Wood.
Australia’s imprisonment rate of Indigenous people is a domestic embarrassment which causes international condemnation and shame, and is shockingly expensive and ineffective, writes former Commonwealth and NT public servant Bob Beadman, as part of a broader analysis of legal and governance systems.
Liz Holmes took her own life when she felt she had nothing to look forward to but pain and indignity because of her deteriorating health. Her daughter Sharon Cramp-Oliver writes that her mother would have used euthanasia if it had been available, a way of dying that will be available to everyone in Australia by November next year, except those living in the Northern Territory.
