EXCLUSIVE: A marketing manager who gives strategic advice on the “Territory master brand” to the Chief Minister’s department, has been installed by an unknown person to help decide what crimes are reported to the public, usurping the NT Police media unit, sources have confirmed to the NT Independent.
But the police force and the Fyles Government refuse to say who created the secretive new role and why.
Sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the NT Independent the unadvertised new role is filled by Sita Bacher, who works in the Department of Chief Minister and Cabinet, and who describes herself on Linkedin as a senior marketing and digital manager.
Her spiel on her Linkedin biography states: “The team I lead provide strategic marketing advice and services for NT government agencies, whole of government campaigns, major projects and the Territory master brand”.
The NT Independent was first informed Ms Bacher was in the role on June 2, when several sources said the police media unit members, including director of communications Margaret McKeown, were moved out of the police executive headquarters in the NAB building in Smith St, relocated to the Peter McAulay Centre in Knuckey Lagoon.
The sources say it is now the Chief Minister and Cabinet Department marketing manager Ms Bacher, along with the police executive, who decide what crime will be reported to the public and how that will be done, with the work of distributing the information tasked to the media unit.
Previously, members of the executive would meet with a representative of the media unit daily to discuss those crimes.
“The new media control section is causing significant issues for the community as there are currently no NTPES media releases going out in a timely manner, if at all,” one serving police officer said.
“These are considerable safety issues. The whole reason this is happening is the NT Government only considers bad media as their opposition.
“They know that crime is at epic levels, and we are drastically short of police staff, but the only thing they really fear is the public being aware of this.
“The new media manager is ensuring that no bad media or media regarding crimes gets out to the public. This is why they declared war on Action for Alice [crime reporting Facebook page] as they have shown and stated that he [page administrator Darren Clark] was the only real issue they had to manage.
“We have seen time and time again our NTG is not about solving problems or crime, it’s only real agenda is to silence any reports or information of the crimes getting out. It’s 100 per cent media and public information control and nothing more.”
Under the police management system, crimes in the police’s real-time online information system database can be identified via a click as “management significant”, with information about those crimes distributed to those holding the rank of senior sergeant and above. They are broadly the most serious crimes and those considered to be in the public interest.
There is now also something called a “ZZ file” or report which is a summary produced by a senior officer, such as a senior sergeant or superintendent, which is sent to the executive.
One source said the ZZ files began when NT Police were trying to limit information going out and searching for leaks about serious unreported crime to the NT Independent which lead to two different, and unsuccessful, police investigations into this newspaper.
The sources told the NT Independent the media unit no longer receives any of that information in the first instance, going instead to Ms Bacher for communication strategy determination with the executive.
Another police source said NT Police, under Ms Bacher, are searching through social media to find dissenting sentiments and blocking media questions.
“The [new] media manager is performing social media scrapes. This is where they identify anyone positing things against the Voice, NTPol, or the NTG. Once they are identified they then develop strategies to negate this negative media,” the source said.
“This is also why any media posing questions to NTPol like from NT Indy or [Sky News’ Matt] Cunningham they [the journalists] will just get radio silence, the current drive is don’t answer any questions.”
Ms Bacher did not respond to questions nor did Chief Minister Natasha Fyles, Police Minister Kate Worden, or acting Police Commissioner Michael Murphy.
“Director of communications Margaret McKeown, were moved out of the police executive headquarters in the NAB building in Smith St, relocated to the Peter McAulay Centre in Knuckey Lagoon.”
Maaaate! Once you removed out of the NAB and send to Peter Mcauley, its curtains for you!
This dictatorial arrogant totally incompetent government are treating those they are sworn to protect as moronic fools. Anything to stay in power and protect their ideology driven agenda. The bitter end will surely come and not fast enough.
Manipulating information to fabricate a lie just gets compounded with each new lie. How long before the territory is destroyed? There was recently talk of a large number of break-ins at a Katherine caravan park. This occurred at a time where there was a peak in travellers passing through. Just imagine the uncontrolled social media this would generate amongst travellers and their friends. Just like the ridiculous alcohol policies that only seek to hide the problem and cause troublemakers to relocate. Meanwhile the frocks in cabinet launch review after review, dribble about hard work and complexity of complexities and keep lying to themselves. The only thing that seems complex is how to deal with problems without a voter backlash from minority interests. It has come to holding onto power over all else. The majority of voters are sick of the politics overshadowing honest governance. Sadly the opposition only have a single horse to ride to the next election. They need to open their eyes to preventing crime by providing the services that Labor talks about but never comes up with anything on the ground. Shortage of doctors and access to services by disabled peopled are a couple of other areas. I am sure if they stopped going to kindergartens and school sports days they could find the time to talk to the people that need support.
Darwin now resembles a Gulag CCP totalitarian society as both 2013-16 NTG CLP CM Adam Giles, 2016-21 ALP CM Michael Gunner and 2017-23 City of Darwin LM Vatskalis has sold off Australian sovereign assets to foreign entities disrupting our democratic system ie 16/11/2015 Darwin Port 99 Year Lease to CCP Billionaire Ye Cheng; whilst also spending millions of tax-payer-dollars on ubiquitous CCTV cameras to spy on citizens to censor speech and association & constantly raising municipal levies.
Now the struggling & incompetent 2021-23 NTG ALP CM Natasha Fyles is shutting down independent media, whilst colluding with the compromised Darwin ABC & Murdoch Newscorp NT News, to spike the truth whilst sharing propaganda through a new overpaid DCM influencer? How much is her salary?
This is the final nail in the coffin for truth, transparency and integrity under the NTG One Belt One Road Initiative. The solution for NT & global citizens is to utilise AI platforms to share personal stories & network with sovereign citizens to challenge malevolent self-interested political apparatchiks and mainstream media presstitutes. Support NT Independent media!
The NT Public service no longer services the public. It services itself!
We dont have a Government for the people, we have local yokal fruit loops running the place like a dictatorship!