Take heed, please government 

I am becoming very worried about aspects of CLP governance. Along with that is bewilderment as to why some actions are being taken and needs ignored. The Waterfront issue on salaries and employment has been dismissed. A key appointment to an essential position has been confirmed at the behest of the Attorney General, who has appointed a person who did not even apply for the position. The revelation about animal cruelty is confirmed in the background of the person declared the most powerful in the NT News 2024, losing the most prominent persons influencing the NT.

The government must avoid these glitches and shortcomings. Ministry officials would do well to recall what happened to the Giles Government and, more recently, the Fyles/Lawler government.

Promises must be met, and transparency—which is becoming lost—must be reinstated. Otherwise, the Finnochario government may well be a one-term wonder.

ANALYSIS: Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro says she is “buoyed” by a six per cent swing towards the CLP at the federal election, but a deeper look at what the voters in Darwin and Palmerston said with their ballots should cause the Country Liberal Party and its elected members grave concerns for their political futures.

While some would argue a federal election result should not be used to criticise the Territory Chief Minister, the party itself made it a referendum on Lia in Darwin and Palmerston, and the results were damning.

Saturday’s federal election was held less than nine months after the CLP formed government through surprising gains in the Darwin northern suburbs. It appears that this result would not be replicated today if a Territory election were called.

We don’t need hordes of people

We already have far too many people living in Darwin. We need more people to crowd in, about as much as the sea needs water. Our suburbs are becoming run-down and gritty. Increasing numbers of houses are very poorly maintained, and yards are overgrown and unkempt.

Trees are planted in public spaces and along roadways and are never maintained. Council lets verges and footpaths go to rack and ruin. The council never acknowledges the efforts of those who preserve verges at the resident! ‘s expense.

And people in high places want to continue bringing in masses of people.

DO THOSE DECISION-MAKERS AND CONSULTANTS KNOW WHAT LIVING IN DARWIN AND PALMERSTON  IS LIKE?

I mean in places other than housing enclaves and the newer suburbs—which, in the case of Lyons and Muirhead, are already starting to look drab. Johbsin and Zuccoli’s appearances are hardly awe-inspiring, either!

Give it a break! We need care, maintenance, appreciation and pride in what we already have rather than wanting to jam-pack this place with more people.

Maternity in a hotel

This is such an odd incentive or unusual compensation. There is only one sensible way forward: the permanent re-opening of the DPH maternity ward. While the RDH facilities might be adequate, the noise and racket, the whole atmosphere in and around the hospital, are so disconcerting. The RDH is very much like a factory, processing people rather than products. In overall terms, our health facility in the NT is going from bad to worse.  

Where are the Councillors

COD Councillors! Who and where are they? What do they do? How do they represent ratepayers and voters? How do you find them? Do they ever come visit, hold constituent meetings, make any form of contact?

If they do it must be by Facebook and social media because for them, newsletters, physical contact, and any traditional visibility no longer exists.

NT – Going forwards or backwards?

There are so many press releases and so much confirmation from government and private sources about the forward-looking NT that is going places. These are largely visionary or aspirational statements. In truth and in real terms, the NT is losing much from what used to be on offer. The impending closure of the DPH maternity ward is just the latest. It often seems that the only growth industry in the NT is crime.

Euthanasia – gwt on with it!

It is high time the NT Government got on with introducing and passing VAD. Many people have endured much suffering since the callous removal of the Perron Law on VAD in the 1990s. The NT was the first, and now we are the last in Australia to have this enlightened and humanist right. An extensive inquiry has been held, and results have been released. For the government to contemplate an ‘inquiry of the inquiry’ is just dithering and messing with a vital need.

Where to is becoming blurry

Sadly, I have to agree with David’s comment; that there seem to be obligations and accountabilities about process and procedure to which departmental heads have to adhere, but which can be merrily skipped by government ministers. 

Along with that, irregularities that should be investigated – like the Warerfront jobs and salaries fiasco – are waived  away.

The AG is one of the ministers who is discounting process, seemingly preferring personal choice but she is not alone on this operational preference.

I am genuinely worried that the Finnochario Government is starting to slip off the tracks.

Domestic Violence

issues that could be addressed and if they were, it might help with curtailing this scourge. However, these controllable elements are not going to be tackled and for that reason, things will only worsen in terms of the degree of incidents and the severity of affliction meted out by perpetrators.

Leave Wadeye

Would it be wrong to suggest that all support staff at Wadeye should be withdrawn permanently and the community left to its own devices – with the proviso that Darwin and Larrakeyah land would be off limits because members of the community have a habit of bringing their disputes to the city and carrying on their vendettas here?

Coomalee Council sacked  

Goodness gracious me. Is there ANY local government jurisdiction that has NOT been sacked over time by the NT Government? The mind boggles at the mass and volume of sackings of local government authorities that have happened over the years. Now it is Coomalee’s turn; their first time?