A joint media release by the Northern, Central, Tiwi and Anindilyakwa Aboriginal Land Councils issued earlier today, 12 March 2025 The Northern Territory’s four land councils have united in calling for the Territory Coordinator Bill to be dumped. The Bill excludes Aboriginal people from involvement in development decisions on their traditional lands and prevents them [...]
Photojournalist Glenn Campbell was covering Cyclone Alfred and called me just before he evacuated from Lismore yesterday afternoon. As ever he’s good for a yarn and yesterday he told me a few tales from a long career chasing cyclones – and much more – as an “accidental cyclone tourist.” Glenn Campbell – Lismore I just [...]
The NT election will be held tomorrow, 24 August 2024. I now reckon that Eva Lawler’s Australian Labor Party (ALP) will squeak back to office with either a one-seat majority or as a minority government with the support of an Independent. That’s not a reckoning shared by most of those I’ve talked to over the [...]
Bob Gosford reports from Darwin As I noted earlier this year, 2024 will be a big year for elections. Yesterday’s issue of the writ kicked off the NT election on Saturday 24 August that will have ramifications for both major parties at a national level – for Labor to retain its electoral dominance; for the [...]
By Media Release earlier today the Northern Land Council (NLC) advised in relation to the employment of the Chief Executive Officer, Joe Martin-Jard, that: The Northern Land Council has announced that Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Joe Martin-Jard, is leaving the role, effective Friday.The NLC would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Martin-Jard for [...]
NT police issue Glock 22, .40 calibre This Musical Dispatch from the Front is a guest post by my old—in both senses of that word—friend Frank Baarda,* a long-term resident of Yuendumu. Greetings, This is a tale of how IMHO the police should be and how it is. On our odyssey when we returned from [...]
Photo: National Indigenous Times This Musical Dispatch from the Front is a guest post by my old—in both senses of that word—friend Frank Baarda,* a long-term resident of Yuendumu. Hiya Folks, I consider myself lucky to have experienced an age when nuclear submarines didn’t cost $5 billion and to keep an almost vacant offshore asylum [...]
Part 3: Munkara v Santos NA Barossa Pty Ltd (No 3) Not the Tiwi Island Crocodile called "Elvis". But a nice one nonetheless ... At paragraph 312 of Justice Natalie Charlesworth’s decision in Munkara v Santos NA Barossa Pty Ltd (No 3) witness Tony Pilakui said in his statement that he disputed the truth of [...]
Part Two: … and a crocodile called Elvis. Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher. Darwin, February 2024 By Bob Gosford In the first part of this seriesI looked at the recent Federal Court decision of Justice Charlesworth in Munkara v Santos NA Barossa Pty Ltd (No 3) [2024] (Munkara) and briefly explored the judicial history of principles [...]
This is a guest post by legal commentator Hector Lung. Jack Karczewski KC was admitted to practice in the NT in 1984 and provided almost 40 years of service to the Territory’s criminal justice system. He passed away in late 2023. In early 2024 a few rather brief and underwhelming notices appeared to mark his [...]
