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.
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.
