Deputy Chief Minister Gerard Maley will lead a delegation of NT livestock representatives to Indonesia this week, which he said will strengthen international partnerships involving the NT’s livestock and agriculture, with the trip also timed to celebrate the opening of a new steakhouse in Seminyak featuring NT beef.
The NT jumped from eighth to fourth in overall economic standing, its best result since October 2016, the latest CommSec State of the States quarterly economic report shows, while Western Australia leads overall for the fifth consecutive quarter, topping four economic indicators.
Inpex reported an oil spill at its Ichthys facility on Darwin Harbour earlier this month, which was made public days after the Japanese gas giant admitted to under-reporting toxic emissions for years at the same facility, with calls for a public inquiry into the company’s failures.
Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby has been referred to the anti-corruption watchdog by a federal senator after allegations were raised in a national law journal about the CLP Government blocking the NT Supreme Court from issuing media statements and an alleged new policy that all its communications need to be approved by the Attorney-General’s Department’s chief executive.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government’s pick to run the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority went to university with the Chief Minister’s husband and remains close friends with him, the NT Independent can reveal, with the appointment made amid sweeping changes to the Sacred Sites Act and the government’s move to push through the proposed Darwin Waterfront hotel project despite traditional owners’ objections.
The NT’s environmental regulator is investigating after Inpex admitted to under-reporting toxic emissions from its Ichthys LNG plant, with errors in the way “some emissions” from the plant have been calculated and reported since 2018, including volatile organic compounds such as benzene, a leukaemia-causing chemical, which a doctor says could cause serious health problems.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government has refused to comment on revelations Darwin Waterfront Corporation chief executive Alastair Shields is using the Kitchener Drive multi-storey carpark as a private garage for his vintage Mercedes collection at taxpayer expense, while tax compliance issues remain unanswered, with the Auditor-General recommending the corporation ensure it has met all tax reporting requirements.
Darwin and Palmerston bus drivers, represented by the Transport Workers’ Union, have warned that further industrial action could occur if a fair offer is not made by private bus operator CDC, following Monday’s strike action that shut down bus services in the Greater Darwin area.
Two security guards, one suffering suspected fractures, were taken to Royal Darwin Hospital after being attacked by up to 20 people in Parap on Saturday afternoon with bottles and sticks, NT Police said.
Sixteen youths in Katherine have been arrested and charged as part of NT Police Task Force Cerberus for 40 offences related to burglaries, stolen vehicles, and bail breaches as part of a three-day operation targeting property-related crime in the Katherine CBD, NT Police said.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government passed changes to the Anti-Discrimination Act through Parliament Thursday night that nobody but the government is happy with, following months of fierce debate and controversy, with everyone from the crossbench to the LGBTQI community to the Australian Christian Lobby criticising the amendments.
EXCLUSIVE: Darwin Waterfront Corporation chief executive Alastair Shields has been using at least two valuable parking spaces on the top level of the Kitchener Drive multi-storey carpark as his own personal garage to keep two Mercedeses – including the red one that featured in a recent Four Corners episode – which the former chair of the corporation says he had no knowledge of, raising questions about undisclosed gifts and whether fringe benefit tax has been paid for Mr Shields’s free parking fancy.
