The Finocchiaro CLP Government is looking to fill a new role called the “Territory Procurement Champion” who will replace the Buy Local Industry Advocate, ahead of undisclosed planned reforms to government procurement processes to be rolled out later this year.
New signs on public buses warning that people “with dirty or stained clothes” will be “refused travel” is the latest move by the Finocchiaro CLP Government to target Indigenous Territorians, community and legal groups have said, “particularly those who are poor, homeless or otherwise marginalised”.
The Northern Territory has the lowest renewable energy production of any Australian state or territory, according to a new national report, that follows the CLP Government’s decision to scrap its promised 2030 renewable energy target.
Attorney General Marie-Clare Boothby has called for expressions of interest for “independent” roles on the NT Legal Aid Commission after three members of the last board resigned in frustration when the CLP Government rejected their independent recommendation for a new director, overruling them to appoint a person with ties to the CLP.
A senior government executive who told Parliament’s Budget Estimates Committee she was not involved in recommending the Environment Minister approve the controversial Mataranka water allocation plan due to a conflict of interest, was forced to change her story when an internal document signed by her was presented that showed she was involved, with other questionable conflicts of interest raised.
Proposed reforms to vehicle inspection regulations in the NT were rushed and will pose financial and safety risks to Territorians, the Motor Trade Association has warned, including the potential for people to be “ripped off by dodgy private vehicle sellers”.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro’s plan to arm bus and public housing officers with guns to target “anti-social behaviour” has been criticised by numerous peak organisations as dangerous to the public, with one national body calling for the Federal Government to intervene before “further damage is done”.
Health Minister Steve Edgington’s claims that a ‘code yellow’ has not been called for bed pressure at RDH since the change of government misleads the public about the real issues facing the NT’s health system, the Australian Medical Association NT says.
St John Ambulance NT has written to staff claiming the emergency road ambulance portion of the government contract is not going out to tender, only the patient transfer portion, but the Health Minister and Health Department have refused to clarify, a situation which follows revelations the Major Crime Squad investigated the death of one of the charity’s patients and an alleged cover-up by management earlier this year.
Following the previous Labor government’s move to arm public housing and bus safety officers with pepper spray last year, the current Finocchiaro CLP Government has moved to give them guns, as part of a plan to quickly train those officers and police auxiliary members as new “Police Public Safety Officers” to “target antisocial behaviour in public places”.
The Jovi Boys gang and their associates ram-raided the Peppimenarti Social Club gates, injuring a woman before ransacking the premises while patrons and staff secured themselves in a store room late last month, however NT Police did not attend until two days later, and will not say why the attack was not made public.
An off-duty NT Corrections officer who was returning home from a fundraiser for another officer who lost his eye last month in an attack at Holtze Prison, had his face slashed by an unknown offender late Saturday night after refusing demands for cigarettes and money, a union official has confirmed.
