The Northern Territory needs to legalise growing marijuana, with production confined to Aboriginal land, to create a First Nations industry and increase tourism, writes Fiona Collins.
OPINION: Lowering age of criminal responsibility a costly and brutal attack on the NT’s most vulnerable
The NT CLP Government’s move to reduce the age of criminal responsibility for children as young as 10 is a brutal, costly and genocidal attack on the NT’s most vulnerable, writes prominent barrister Alistair Wyvill, which raises troubling questions about the Territory’s capacity to govern itself.
Letter to the editor: We had a taste of an archaic approach to passing legislation
We had a taste of an archaic approach to passing bills last week by the CLP Government not using the scrutiny committee and rushing them through on urgency, and while the government has promised to reintroduce the committee, we must now wait and see the fine print, writes Gerry Wood.
Opinion: Rising social conflicts and escalating debt mean a bleak outlook for the Northern Territory
Successive NT governments seem more concerned with maintaining power than making principled leadership decisions following honest and transparent communication with voters, and the problems of rapidly developing social conflicts, and escalating debt, point to a bleak future, writes Don Fuller.
Opinion: An open letter to the attorney-general about youth justice
If the new government wants to keep Territorians safe from crime it needs to open the new youth detention centre as a priority, not lower the age of criminal responsibility, and fix the ‘silent crisis’ of pervasive delay in the Local Court to provide justice for all, writes criminal lawyer Clancy Dane.
Comprehensive election bloodbath upholds pattern of low voter turnout
Remote enrolments increased in the lead-up to The Voice referendum last year, yet the NTEC indicated that fewer than 45 per cent of eligible remote voters exercised their votes at August’s NT election, citing “voter fatigue and general apathy”, writes Dr Robyn Smith, while the question remains: why?
Opinion: Can a 10-year-old be responsible for a crime? Here’s what brain science tells us
The CLP has pledged to return the age of criminal responsibility to ten but the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child says 14 should be the absolute minimum. Adolescent health and psychology academics Susan Sawyer and Nandi Vijayakuma look at what the science says about how much those under 14 understand the consequences of their actions.
Opinion: The vice-chancellor needs re-focus to make CDU a high quality university
Vice-chancellor Scott Bowman needs to improve Charles Darwin University’s teaching and research, rather than be an activist on political and social issues, which quashes the academic right to freedom of thought and expression.
Letter to the editor: NTCOSS will play a vital role under the CLP government
The community sector has served the needs of Territorians for decades through a measured, reasonable, collaborative approach, which will continue under a CLP government, writes NTOCSS chief executive officer Sally Sievers.
Letter to the editor: Council more interested in revenue raising than safety
Through ignoring ideas about making speed limit changes easier to spot, and not creating a bike lane on Girraween Rd, Litchfield Council has shown it is more interested in revenue raising than safety, writes Rob Wesley.
Post-election Clown Town: Just the good ol’ boys, makin’ their way the only way they know how
CLOWN TOWN: Another week in the Territory and a further slide into terminal decline, or bright new hope with a bright new government from a party that totally screwed the buffalo last time it was in power?
Letter to the editor: What might the CLP victory mean for the NT community sector?
The new CLP government is going to be on the hunt for savings to prove its economic credentials, and NTCOSS will be in the firing line because of the organisation’s devotion to the Labor party, writes Paul Morris.