Comments on news reports in the NT Newspaper

Defence from danger within as well as without

P

Maybe we need a defence from what is happening within, with anti-Semitic behaviour of the worst and most rapacious kind escalating down south by the day. Thank God the NT has stayed above that watermark of hate, discord and dislocation. 

Frontline workers do not want protection

It seems like the dissenters must be tigers for punishment, more than prepared to be thumped, hit, stabbed and spat upon for the perceived ‘greater good’ of patients and onlooker family members. This would not have been a letter I would have signed because common sense has to prevail in cases of abuse directed at frontline workers in all areas.

City of Darwin Council premises

P

This magnificent concept was included in the overall City of Darwin Plan developed in the past few years. It is included in a publication that came out, and, pending approvals, the concept buildings – including the Darwin Campus of CDU – were all included. My concern is that the Council and most other organisations require people to be aware of developments and go online to respond. It is the ‘finding out’ that can be problematic.

Indigenous expenditure and needs. – refocus

The pros and cons of funding obligations and priorities on Indigenous issues have been prime talking points for more years and decades than I can remember. When I started working in this area in 1970, conversations about funding priorities were at the top of the agenda, and nothing has changed. A lot of what has changed is the way full-blown politicisation has swept the reality and needs of communities and people into the ether of vagueness and indecision. True needs and priorities have all too often been neglected.

Qantas goes to Singapore

Qantas is always reactive, responding to the proactive initiatives of other carriers. I once deeply respected Qantas, but that is no longer the case. Qantas’s use of government funds during Covid and the management’s dismissal of staff and privatisation was a hit below the belt. So, too, was the amount of money and the hoopla lavished by the company during ‘The Voice’ campaign.

A legitimate fight to be staged in Darwin

P

The beauty of this fight is that it will be legitimate and contested under tightly regulated rules. This is a change from the unrequited street and shopping centre fighting and hullabaloo that, unfortunately, has become the unregulated norm in Darwin.

The CLP Government  IS being tough on crime

Northern Territorians overwhelmingly support the approach toward crimes committed by young and old that was promised and is now being actioned. I am sick and tired of the bleeding hearts and bleating approach that organisations, which seem to have only the welfare of criminals at heart, keep trotting out. The government has heard and responded to the silent majority and is not reacting in a knee-jerk manner to the minority brigade.

Don’t drill  test near Larrimah

Can obstructions to testing for the veracity of an industry in a particular area be given the heave-ho? It is time for environmentalists and others to take a rational and evidence-based approach to progress without going over the top with some first-up tsunami-like emotional outburst?

A safety house next to a grog shop in Alice Springs ??!!

The intention is good, but the proposed location is all wrong! These safe houses should be as far away as possible from liquor outlets. If the project goes ahead in its present location, the safety aspect of the program will be severely compromised. 

Australia Day award recipients

Congratulations to all awardees and thank you to everyone in our territory who do their best every day to enhance, enrich and make the NT a better place for their contribution.