In case you missed it, here’s a two-minute rundown of this week’s top stories: From the Chief Minister’s office blocking an FOI on his China deal, to his sketchy taxpayer funded trip to a Sydney tailor, to the ABC’s managing director Senate Estimates hot seat session over the Darwin newsroom’s conflict of interest, to NT’s 2020 budget record debt and deficit.
Chief Minister defies FOI laws to keep secret China agreements hidden
Chief Minister Michael Gunner’s office has refused to release the agreements he has signed with Chinese officials since coming to power in 2016, failing to provide a valid legal reason for blocking the public’s right to know.
The NT Independent filed a Freedom of Information application in June to force the Gunner Government to publicly release all of the agreements signed with Chinese officials.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner’s secret night in Sydney with high-priced tailor revealed
A mysterious trip Chief Minister Michael Gunner took to Sydney to meet a high-priced tailor in a hotel room on the way home from an official international state visit in 2017 was kept off official travel reporting records while still being picked up by taxpayers, the NT Independent can reveal.
Documents released under Freedom of Information laws show the November 2017 official government trip to Hawaii, that included flights for Mr Gunner between Alice Springs, Sydney, Honolulu and back to Sydney and Darwin, were not properly lodged through the NT Government’s official travel requisition database, in contravention of strict protocols established to protect taxpayers against fraud.
‘That has not been raised with me’: ABC boss grilled over Darwin newsroom’s conflict of interest at Senate Estimates
ABC managing director David Anderson has committed to personally review how the Darwin newsroom has managed a conflict of interest concerning Chief Minister Michael Gunner’s wife Kristy O’Brien, following questions by CLP Senator Sam McMahon at Senate Estimates in Canberra.
Ms O’Brien’s conflict of interest was recently raised again after the Chief Minister’s office helped facilitate a speaking engagement for the ABC reporter at a local shopping centre last month that heavily promoted her husband in advertising for the event.
NT Budget 2020: Spending continues with no plan to address financial crisis
Chief Minister Michael Gunner has delivered his first NT Budget as Treasurer that will see spending continue relatively unabated over the next decade as the Territory continues to plunge into record debt and deficit.
Critics have argued the budget shows no commitment to rein in spending, despite a government announced financial crisis two years ago that it still shows no current plan for getting out of.
The economy is predicted to remain stagnant as the government adds to its recurrent costs over the next three years.
‘There is a core group of youths’: Northern suburbs crime wave concerning police
NT Police say they have been forced to increase patrols and other resources 24-hours a day after a “significant increase in youth disturbances” in Darwin’s northern suburbs over the last two weeks, that has seen kids returned to their homes in some cases “more than 10 times a night”.
The public statement comes after a video of Karama residents arresting an alleged offender on their own has been making the rounds on social media.
Seven charged over $2 million Darwin marijuana bust
Nearly $2 million has been seized and seven men charged in a massive drug crackdown that has “dismantled a significant criminal syndicate” in the NT, police said.
On November 5, 10 search warrants into the illegal drugs trade were simultaneously launched under the Operation Medina Alpha, a joint task force involving the Australian Federal Police, Australian Defence Force, and Australian Border Force.
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