Disgraced police commissioner Michael Murphy mysteriously cancelled a recruitment process for the deputy commissioner role in late 2023, multiple sources have told the NT Independent, and later struck a new panel that appointed current Acting Commissioner Martin Dole in the deputy role, which comes amid calls by the police union to investigate all of Mr Murphy’s appointments, that have so far been rejected by the Chief Minister.
A 23-year-old man has been charged with the abduction of a 12-year-old boy in Alice Springs last month, after being extradited from South Australia.
A police officer was injured early Sunday morning in Alice Springs when a stolen Toyota Hilux accelerated and rammed into his parked vehicle, causing a suspected concussion, NT Police said.
Assistant Police Commissioner Peter Kennon, whose promotion was at the centre of the recent ICAC investigation, went from a Superintendent to Acting Deputy Commissioner in roughly 18-months after his close friend Michael Murphy, who had been his best man, became Police Commissioner, sources have told the NT Independent.
Mayors and councillors across the Territory will receive a four per cent pay increase later this year, including Darwin Mayor Kon Vatskalis who will see the biggest increase, with every local councillor seeing their allowances increased by several thousand dollars.
An NT prisons contract awarded to a private security company the Corrections Minister’s adviser previously worked for was handled independently of his office, the Minister has said, but he has refused to say how much it will cost taxpayers, while a privacy law expert said it was only in “extreme circumstances” that governments should hide the cost of contracts, with this contract not meeting the threshold.
Planning Minister Joshua Burgoyne has defunded volunteer community group the Planning Action Network, declaring the provisions of the planning legislation, which he recently weakened by removing third party reviews from, were robust and that there was already sufficient public consultation.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government will lobby the Federal Labor Government this week to secure a commitment on the Darwin Port amid solvency issues with Chinese-owned company Landbridge, but the Chief Minister would not say if leasing the nationally strategic asset to China in 2015 was a mistake made by her previous CLP government.
The Finocchiaro Government is extending the life of three gas turbine electricity generators that supply Darwin and Katherine, but the government has refused to say if it will still meet its 2030 renewable energy target, while the Utilities Commission has said it cannot tell if the government’s plan is the appropriate solution, it has been reported.
A new data tool introduced by CSIRO will give Darwin residents the ability to assess heat levels in their neighbourhoods with an aim to help mitigate heat stress and enhance the city’s liveability, sustainability, and resilience.
A 31-year-old woman has been charged with murder after allegedly stabbing her partner in Darwin on Friday night, NT Police said.
The Finocchiaro Government has signed a secret deal with private security company G4S to provide prison officers, with the cost of the contract and the process used to award it not made public.
