EXCLUSIVE: The five senior NT Police officers who lied to the Coroner about racist TRG awards approached the president of the police association before filing their false sworn statements, who advised all of them not to file the misleading documents, multiple sources have said, raising further questions about collusion and who ordered the officers to make the statements.
The NT health practitioner at the centre of claims by the nurse’s union that he is under investigation by NT Police for alleged multiple rapes, and who was allowed to return to work by the Health Department, has suddenly been suspended by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.
A Darwin businessman who posted videos on social media using illegal fireworks and “bragging” about purchasing them has had his business raided by NT WorkSafe, with the banned fireworks confiscated and charges being considered.
Chief Minister and Police Minister Lia Finocchiaro has remained silent for three days on the Coroner’s findings from the inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker, which found the NT Police exhibited the “hallmarks of institutional racism” and providing a series of recommendations for government and the police force, while the Opposition says Ms Finocchiaro has “failed to show leadership” during challenging times.
The Finocchiaro Government has axed a $19 million police station that was to be built at Peppimenarti because it claimed the residents did not want it and will instead build one in Maningrida, but the head of the local Aboriginal corporation said the residents were not consulted and simply objected to the proposed site of the complex in the middle of ceremonial grounds and wanted to use some of the money to build new houses so people did not have to continue living in tents.
NT Police divers have recovered the body of a 57-year-old man who went missing after entering a plunge pool at Edith Falls north of Katherine around 3pm on Tuesday.
A large fight erupted in the Casuarina Centrelink offices on Monday afternoon, NT Police said, which witnesses said was so bad children and staff were forced to hide in a saferoom, with at least one man in his 20s suffering “blunt force injuries to his head”.
An independent investigation that found a former NT Supreme Court judge sexually harassed a former female associate, including suggesting they “share a bed”, was rejected by the NT Government, which moved to get the Anti-Discrimination Commission to drop the matter, a legal firm representing the associate said.
A 22-year-old man has had his charge upgraded to murder for allegedly stabbing a man in the chest in the Alice Springs city centre in May, NT Police said.
The Northern Territory will host the largest Exercise Talisman Sabre from Sunday July 13 to August 4, with over 30,000 military personnel from 19 nations participating in war games throughout the region.
Coroner Elisabeth Armitage has found former NT Police constable Zach Rolfe “was racist and worked in and benefitted from an organisation with the hallmarks of institutional racism”, which she said may have contributed to the “avoidable” shooting death of Warlpiri man Kumanjayi Walker.
The Health Department and the Health Minister will not comment on allegations a health practitioner under investigation by NT Police for alleged multiple rapes has been allowed to return to work, while police have refused to confirm the investigation and the industry regulator has claimed it can’t comment on whether a complaint has been filed against the practitioner.
