The ICAC’s report into Police Commissioner Michael Murphy’s improper conduct in hiring a mate for a senior police executive role has contradicted Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro’s account of events, raising more questions about why she chose not to take any action against the commissioner for more than a week and initially remained silent on the scandal.
Sonia Kennon, the wife of Police Commissioner Michael Murphy’s good mate Peter Kennon, whose promotion led to the downfall of the top cop, was herself promoted twice over a short period of time under the Murphy regime, taking her into the lower reaches of management after allegedly failing the Senior Sergeant’s exam multiple times before that requirement for promotion was removed, sources have told the NT Independent.
Police are looking for a perpetrator who broke into a Alice Springs business and stole cash and a safe, NT Police said.
Territorians will pay for a high-priced Melbourne lawyer to defend senior government executive Andrew Kirkman’s actions at an upcoming Federal Circuit Court hearing in Darwin, after another court found he threatened to blackmail a female staffer and inflicted a mental health injury on her while engaging in “aggressive” and “threatening” behaviour in 2021.
The Opposition says it will be demanding answers from Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro when Parliament resumes Tuesday morning, calling for the release of the full Operation Apollo report and for her to explain why a so-called “educational tool” for the public service has been kept secret, while Ms Finocchiaro said on Monday she was still waiting for advice from the ICAC before tabling the report in Parliament. That and other issues are expected to dominate this week of parliamentary sittings.
The Environment Centre NT has said the Finocchiaro Government’s tough on crime rhetoric clearly does not apply to big business, in response to the announcement it has negotiated a settlement with the owners of Claravale Farm over illegal land clearing, which still allows them to farm the area of land they admitted they cleared without a permit.
A 24-year-old male was arrested this morning after allegedly breaking into an Alice Springs home and assaulting a disabled man, then indecently assaulting a sleeping woman in the same home, NT Police said.
A new travel connection has been established between the Northern Territory and Malaysia following AirAsia Malaysia’s announcement of its non-stop service from Darwin to Kuala Lumpur, that was made possible with an undisclosed amount of taxpayer funds.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has pledged to release the ICAC’s full Operation Apollo report in Parliament on Tuesday, which will provide the public with its first look at the details around suspended police commissioner Michael Murphy’s improper conduct and the extent of the investigation.
A 44-year-old Alawa man is in custody after he allegedly aimed a crossbow at police on Friday night, during a reported domestic violence disturbance, NT Police said.
The NT’s land councils are demanding the Finocchiaro Government scrap its Territory Coordinator Bill, claiming it excludes Aboriginal people from decisions about their traditional lands and hinders their ability to protect their heritage, while a dissenting report to Parliament by an MLA states the bill is “not in the best interest of the Northern Territory”.
Police searching for a man on the run from a forensic disability cottage at Holtze prison were warned the man may be armed, violent, and mentally ill, which is at odds with NT Police telling the public it did not believe he was a risk, The Australian has reported.
