EDITORIAL: The Director of Public Prosecution’s bungling of the Colleen Gwynne abuse of office case is the latest blow to the public’s confidence in this crucial office and the director’s outright refusal to tell Territorians what happened in this matter directly contradicts his own published “mission” statement to publicly explain terminated high-profile cases.
Constable Zachary Rolfe breaks his silence in an opinion piece for the NT Independent, in which he explains those text messages, Commissioner Jamie Chalker’s legacy and how the ongoing coronial inquest is failing the community.
EDITORIAL: Previously redacted sections of the Pollock/Proctor report revealed by the NT Independent this week is the closest to a smoking gun yet that the NT Police, at the direction of Commissioner Jamie Chalker’s office, attempted to pervert the course of justice by charging Zach Rolfe with murder while aware there was insufficient evidence for the most serious charge in criminal law.
ANALYSIS: Newly sworn-in Administrator Hugh Heggie is indelibly intertwined with some of the most controversial policies, and by extension legislation, the NT has ever seen, however as this government ordered, we will not get to see the reasons why the former CHO made the decisions he did for two years. The Administrator is intended to be apolitical – so why does the Chief Minister and friends get to select their boss of bosses and what are the problems this raises for the NT?
With sewage flowing into the Howard River Gerry Wood asks are there any safety risks, and what happened to the long promised upgrade to the Coolalinga sewerage infrastructure.
OPINION: The final plan for Holzte could be made in accordance with the views of developers, and the rural area will have a repeat of Zuccoli or Durack, former independent MLA for Nelson Gerry Wood writes.
OPINION: The daughter of a long serving NT Police officer says her father was forced into medical retirement because of trauma from his work, and after management ignored his multiple suicide attempts. She says senior police refused to help him with his mental health and have never provided therapy.
OPINION: The NT Public Sector Appeals Board has found a fire fighter who was sacked because he refused COVID-19 vaccinations should be reinstated writes Laine Jolly, and she says it should be applied to all Northern Territory public servants sacked over vaccinations.
OPINION: How is it that not one of the NT Police staff members involved in alleged misconduct for sending “racist” text messages that have recently been strewn about in national media as part of the Coronial Inquest Show has ever been spoken to about their behaviour by the NT Police executive in more than two years, writes former cop Carey Joy.
Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker’s bold assertion that his personal popularity has lifted while the coronial investigation into the death of Yuendumu teen Kumanjayi Walker is still underway surely ranks among his most confusing, self-aggrandising, and delusional comments yet, while raising serious questions about the integrity of the inquest itself.
Fundamental questions need to be asked about the changes to the NT’s discrimination laws, writes former independent MLA Gerry Wood, who argues the repeal of 37A shows no attempt at balance, just one way bias.
OPINION: There needs to be a shift from a criminal to a health approach in justice systems which also places Indigenous communities at the forefront of the decision-making process, while the age of criminal responsibility should also be raised to 14, SMART recovery CEO April Long writes.
