The Finocchiaro CLP Government has inexplicably chosen “canapes over cost-of-living relief” for Territorians in last week’s budget, critics say, after directing an additional $1 million to controversial Administrator David Connolly’s office and a further $2 million it didn’t have last year to Protocol NT – the body that organises official government functions and special invite-only events.
NT Police spent five months looking for a man with a swastika tattoo on his leg and have now charged him over the alleged offensive ink, but have not laid drug charges after he was allegedly found with “items indicative of drug supply”.
One of CLP backbencher Clinton Howe’s former electorate officers has filed an unfair dismissal application with the Fair Work Commission stating she was fired because she refused to “falsify electorate information” in a database that secretly stores personal information about constituents for the Country Liberal Party and was subjected to bullying and “unreasonable” micromanaging in the office.
Alice Springs Town Council has released its draft 2026/27 Municipal Plan and a new four-year Strategic Plan, proposing a 4.7 per cent average rate increase alongside a $22.6 million capital works program which includes $8.9 million on Todd Street Mall upgrades and for the new library.
A 52-year-old Livingstone man accused of stealing $1.33 million worth of plant, equipment and building materials, including World War II munitions, hand grenades, rocket components and warheads, has been arrested, NT Police said.
An ICAC review into the hiring and promotion practices of an NT Government department that commenced the same month its chief executive was controversially appointed has revealed “several recurring gaps…that present improper conduct risks” with recruitment, including that conflicts of interest were not adequately managed, that applicants’ qualifications were inconsistently verified, and that advertised positions took on average 67 days to fill.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government cut funding to Legal Aid NT by more than $3.2 million this financial year, the director of the organisation has finally revealed, which appears to directly refute repeated claims by Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby that funding increased, while more service cuts are expected.
The number of new home builds in the Territory plummeted last year to near-record lows, a new report has found, with the NT delivering 69 per cent fewer homes than required with only 449 homes delivered last year.
Three Department of Children and Families staffers have been stood down following a report in The Australian Tuesday night that revealed five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby had been the subject of six child protection reports since mid-March and was living in a “dangerous environment” with no action having been taken by the department.
The latest health budget has been labelled “disappointing” by the Australian Medical Association NT, which warned headline funding increases mask cuts to primary care, remote care, mental health and disease prevention, adding the Finocchiaro CLP Government needs to recognise the health system is in crisis.
Darwin-based Shorebarge has been put into voluntary administration after a creditor filed a winding-up application in the Supreme Court of Victoria, according to Australian Securities and Investments Commission documents, while its sister company Shorelands announced it has ceased trading.
A man has been charged after allegedly using an edged weapon to try to steal a taxi driver’s car on Sunday morning, while police are also searching for people who allegedly looted a Darwin city shop after its glass front door was broken on Monday morning, NT Police said.
