Monday, January 13, 2025

CATEGORY

NT

Saving Alice in 2025: it starts today

My journalistic work in the Territory began early on Christmas Day 1974, looking down from the aircraft of Deputy Prime Minister Jim Cairns onto the Northern Territory capital that had been all but annihilated by Cyclone Tracy.

The year Santa never made it to Darwin

Cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin on Christmas Day 50 years ago. By dawn, on what is supposed to be a joyous day, at least 50 people were dead, 17 were lost at sea, hundreds injured and about 45,000 people were homeless ... Fifty years on, the night of hell on Earth remains with many survivors still alive. They will never forget their houses exploding into pieces as they tried to shelter from the cyclone. Christmas has never been the same for them.

Youth crime kept in the shadow

The public isn’t going to learn much from official channels about the bashing – alleged – with a blunt weapon of a two months old infant, inflicting serious head injuries. Because the accused are under 18 we will not learn their names ... The known facts in this case are limited to the media release by the police ...

Tourism started as a do-it-yourself venture

Keith Castle, now aged 93, was one of the most influential figures in The Centre’s budding tourism industry. Editor Erwin Chlanda picked some gems from his 164 page memoir about the people who devoted their lives to developing the region’s visitor industry. They are only a handful of men and women but they all had skin in the game ... Governments barely get a mention.

Kenbi Land Claim settlement finalised: Edgington

The Kenbi Land Claim – which has been running since 1979 – has been finalised. The Australian and Northern Territory governments have handed back the last parcels of land on the Cox Peninsula to the Kenbi Land Trust, and the Larrakia Development Corporation. Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Steve Edgington: “This historic moment is a tribute to the ongoing collaboration between the Northern Territory and Australian governments, the Northern Land Council, the Larrakia people and Traditional Owners to resolve complex issues."

DIY welfare group puts numbers to its proud record

The Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Women’s Council is a bit of a mouthful, so just call them NPY and be amazed at its achievements since 1980, spreading across 350,000 square kilometres in the south-west of the NT, the Top End of SA and a big patch of eastern WA ... As the airwaves are full of talking from politicians, activists and coroners, mostly about dollar figures with lots of zeros, Alice Springs based NPY is putting real numbers to its accomplishments in 2024.

Official trailer released for NT film, Kangaroo

STUDIOCANAL has unveiled the first trailer for Kangaroo, a heartwarming family comedy filmed in the breathtaking Red Centre earlier this year ... The Northern Territory Government contributed $900,000 to the production through Screen Territory’s Production Attraction Incentive Program (PAIP), creating significant opportunities for the local community.

Robust legislative agenda for final parliamentary sitting week: Edgington, Cahill

The CLP Government will introduce a comprehensive schedule of legislation for the final parliamentary sitting week of the year, commencing Tuesday. The First Home Owner Grant Amendment Bill 2024 and Fines and Penalties (Recovery) Amendment (Validation) Bill 2024 are two significant legislative priorities to be debated this sitting.

Gallery on half the ANZAC oval carpark

The Aboriginal art gallery, now known as ATSIAGA, will be placed on about half of the present Anzac Oval car park ... ATSIAGA stands for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Gallery of Australia, suggesting the plan still has ambitions for national status ... there was no mention of the assertive campaign by traditional custodians who want the gallery to be built south of The Gap.

Getting killed in the Territory: Netflix series

In the opening sequence we’re told by the central character, played by Anna Torv: “Everything up here is trying to kill you.” Not long after we see an already injured man getting mauled to death by a pack of feral dogs … That’s the start of the Netflix series Territory into which the NT Government has sunk $1.3m of taxpayers’ money and on the back of which our tourism promoters want to boost the industry, currently running at half its normal speed.

CRC for developing Northern Australia Annual Report 2023-24 released

It was another epic year with our research partners. Together we’re helping to de-risk development in the north for a more sustainable and inclusive future. Check out this vibrant update on CRCNA research, development and extension activities from the financial year 2023-24.

Watarrka National Park added to National Heritage List: Plibersek, McCarthy, Scrymgour

The Albanese Labor Government has placed Watarrka National Park in the Northern Territory on the National Heritage List in recognition of the site’s outstanding heritage value to Australia ... The site has been recognised for its remarkable living cultural landscape which is a physical manifestation of the Tjukurrpa and is protected by the songs, ceremonies, and culture of Anangu ngurraritja.

Forecasters predict November rains

Weather forecasters are predicting widespread rainfall for November, across NSW and Queensland. Falls of between 20 and 60 mm are being touted for the Back Country. The Bureau of Meteorology says rainfall is likely to be above average across much of eastern Australia and parts of the interior until January.

Film questions Pine Gap as Trump wins

It’s a time of major events: Donald Trump has again been elected President of the USA and its biggest foreign spy base Pine Gap features in the movie Twilight Time to be screened in Alice Springs ... For decades “the base” has been described as a prime nuclear target. Does that worry the town? Apparently not.

Emergency response to record high prisoner numbers: NT

...prisoner numbers reached a record high of 2,370, placing significant pressure on facilities including Darwin Correctional Centre (DCC), Alice Springs Correctional Centre (ASCC), and police watch houses ... The Department engaged in consultations with the United Workers Union (UWU) regarding urgent proposals to temporarily vary the operating models for both Darwin and Alice Springs Correctional Centres as an emergency response.

The price of poverty

Rainer Chlanda. Those who work in the social service sector in Alice Springs, as I do, know this fact intimately: there is an incredible amount of money funding our response to a community who have incredibly little. Our system watches as desperate people stumble and waits for them to fall before extending a paternalistic hand or one gripped around a gavel.

True Howard Springs ‘wear and tear’ cost revealed: Yan

...$12.7 million of taxpayers’ money was spent operating the Howard Springs Accommodation Village for two months to cater for flood evacuees last year. The total bill for cleaning and repairs was $1.3 million for the two-month period in March and April last year. This included $469,000 replacing windows, $277,000 for handyman services, $174,000 on plumbing, and $89,000 on mattresses.

Transforming public housing in Alice Springs: TFHC

The Northern Territory Government is transferring management of 100 public housing properties in Alice Springs to the community housing sector to help create better outcomes for social housing tenants. From today, the homes will be transferred to Community Housing Central Australia (CHCA), an experienced housing organisation which currently manages over 400 properties across the Alice Springs region.

Lowering the age, ram raid and ‘posting and boasting’ laws pass: Finocchiaro, Maley

The CLP Government’s legislation to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 10, and introduce new ram raid, and posting and boasting laws, have been passed in Parliament ... The CLP Government said ignoring 10 and 11-year-olds who commit serious crimes was not the answer to turning around their lives, or protecting the wider community. Since 1 July, there have been more than 104 instances involving youths, aged 10 and 11, in the commission of offences in the Territory.

Another call to last drinks

Central Australian Aboriginal Congress rarely misses an opportunity to preach its alcohol control gospel. This time it’s a lecture for the new NT Government not to wind back supply regulations lest this leads to “a wave of alcohol related domestic violence, assaults, and social disorder”. And as previously, the health NGO’s reasoning is based on selected facts supporting its objectives.

Union supports ICPA call to increase boarding school allowances: IEU-QNT

The Independent Education Union – Queensland and Northern Territory Branch (IEU-QNT) supports the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association (ICPA) as it calls on government for an urgent increase to the Basic Boarding Allowance to cover 55 per cent of boarding costs, as originally intended. IEU-QNT Branch Secretary Terry Burke said the increase was essential to ensuring equitable access to education for all children in rural and remote Australia.

Declan’s Law ready to be introduced to Parliament next week: Finocchiaro

The CLP Government will deliver on its promise to introduce Declan’s Law in the first sittings of Parliament, commencing next Tuesday. Under Declan’s Law, Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said there would be a presumption against bail for youth and adult serious violent offenders, regardless of whether a weapon is involved. 

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