Chief Minister Eva Lawler spent yet another day defending her Police Minister and his apparent denial of Nazism, this time in front of federal Labor ministers, while also committing to continue to block the ICAC from investigating alleged corruption in Cabinet and defending herself against the CFMEU’s claims that her “poor leadership” has led to the party “dying on the vine”.
The Federal Government has pledged up to $840 million in loans and grants for a combined rare earths mine and refinery facility north of Alice Springs to be run by mineral exploration company Arafura, which the Federal Resources Minister said was “not corporate welfare” but rather an investment to create local jobs and “compete on the world stage” in rare earths.
The Labor Government has blocked the ICAC from accessing Cabinet documents at least five times over the last two years despite concerns the ministers had been misled and that misconduct had transpired, a new report shows, which also highlighted that other matters involving criminal conduct had been referred to the NT Police six times this financial year.
The federal and NT governments have agreed to “fully fund” all Territory public schools but not until 2029, increasing spending from 2025 to eventually meet nationally agreed funding levels, with the Australian Education Union saying while it welcomed the money, the funding was aimed at getting children to the bare minimum of literacy and numeracy levels.
Police are searching for four females who allegedly stole liquor from a bottle shop at Casuarina Tuesday evening and threw a bottle at a security guard, as well as two males who allegedly stole a woman’s car after threatening her with a star picket in a Casuarina carpark.
Chief Minister Eva Lawler spent another day defending her “idiot” Veterans’ Affairs and Police Minister Brent Potter, casting aspersions on the integrity of everyone in Parliament, after cutting press conferences short on consecutive days amid questions over why he remains in Cabinet after his racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic and misogynistic social media posts were made public.
A new $4 billion joint remote housing program between the federal and territory governments, which aims to build 270 new homes annually in remote NT communities over the next 10 years, will involve the Federal Labor Government getting “very much hands-on” to ensure the NT Government meets its targets, the Prime Minister has said.
Offenders who broke into and ransacked a Katherine school classroom are still on the run, NT Police said.
The new Casuarina pool will be open in the middle of the year, Darwin Council Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis has said.
One person is in custody after an aggravated robbery in Bellamack overnight that involved two men allegedly using a firearm to shoot open a door at a home on Eucharia Street, NT Police said.
A former Darwin RSL vice-president says Brent Potter needs to resign as Veterans’ Affairs Minister following his blame-shifting apology for racist Facebook posts, with the veteran stating in a scathing letter to the Minister that “racism, bigotry and sexism is not the Australian way” and that “being an idiot does not excuse your actions”.
An invitation-only forum discussing the future of barramundi fishing in the Northern Territory will be held in Darwin with speakers including Carefish Queensland founder Paul Aubin, who organisers say was instrumental in securing funding to buy back the commercial fishing licences in Queensland.
