A senior NT Government bureaucrat has claimed the US Embassy in Canberra requested Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro “consider creative ways” for the Northern Territory to celebrate the United States’ 250th birthday on July 4 this year, such as holding fireworks displays, but instructed all department heads that any celebration must be covered “from within existing resources”, a leaked internal email has revealed.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government says it will implement proposed safeguards to the Heritage Act 2011 recommended by the Legislative Scrutiny Committee at a later date, including restricting a minister’s ability to delegate powers, and will instead apply the recommendations through ‘administrative policy’ after passing the bill, which comes amid criticism the committee was swamped with legislation and the public was only given one week to voice concerns.
The Labor Opposition has congratulated the Finocchiaro CLP Government for its picks to lead the new Integrity and Ethics Commissioner office, while integrity experts still hold concerns the process of appointments has eroded public confidence, particularly around the unadvertised role of chief executive that will be filled by former AFP and NT police commissioner Reece Kershaw, with one integrity expert describing the current situation as akin to a sad “satire”.
A Tennant Creek man has been charged with causing serious harm for allegedly stabbing a man while he slept in a house on Friday night, NT Police said.
Three teenagers have been charged after allegedly ram raiding the Sporties Club in Tennant Creek early Saturday morning, while police are also investigating a supermarket break-in, an attempted bank robbery, and another business burglary in the town’s main street on Sunday, NT Police said.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government has inexplicably chosen “canapes over cost-of-living relief” for Territorians in last week’s budget, critics say, after directing an additional $1 million to controversial Administrator David Connolly’s office and a further $2 million it didn’t have last year to Protocol NT – the body that organises official government functions and special invite-only events.
NT Police spent five months looking for a man with a swastika tattoo on his leg and have now charged him over the alleged offensive ink, but have not laid drug charges after he was allegedly found with “items indicative of drug supply”.
One of CLP backbencher Clinton Howe’s former electorate officers has filed an unfair dismissal application with the Fair Work Commission stating she was fired because she refused to “falsify electorate information” in a database that secretly stores personal information about constituents for the Country Liberal Party and was subjected to bullying and “unreasonable” micromanaging in the office.
Alice Springs Town Council has released its draft 2026/27 Municipal Plan and a new four-year Strategic Plan, proposing a 4.7 per cent average rate increase alongside a $22.6 million capital works program which includes $8.9 million on Todd Street Mall upgrades and for the new library.
A 52-year-old Livingstone man accused of stealing $1.33 million worth of plant, equipment and building materials, including World War II munitions, hand grenades, rocket components and warheads, has been arrested, NT Police said.
An ICAC review into the hiring and promotion practices of an NT Government department that commenced the same month its chief executive was controversially appointed has revealed “several recurring gaps…that present improper conduct risks” with recruitment, including that conflicts of interest were not adequately managed, that applicants’ qualifications were inconsistently verified, and that advertised positions took on average 67 days to fill.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government cut funding to Legal Aid NT by more than $3.2 million this financial year, the director of the organisation has finally revealed, which appears to directly refute repeated claims by Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby that funding increased, while more service cuts are expected.
