Back to “monster and stomp” for drunks? The NT’s (latest) grog policy folly
The Keep River Kite reckons that the NT's new mandatory rehab scheme for repeat drunks will be just another "wild, failed scheme" doomed for failure.
Is the NT’s Hells Angels ban unlawful?
Is the use of powers contained in an "extraordinary bill with extraordinary powers in extraordinary circumstances" justified to ban the Hells Angels from having a drink in the NT's pubs?
Bad Law of the Week: S. 33AA Liquor Act (NT) – moral panic posing as law
Moral panic or good law and policy? S. 33AA of the NT Liquor Act as a blunt instrument of social control.
NT Police go the Thumper: Losing the war against grog and crime
Police operations like Thumper in Katherine and other towns of the Top End do not stand unsupported. Thumping is now big business.
Elferink reforms NT Estimates. Throwing light into dark corners or drawing a veil across democracy?
Newly-appointed NT Treasurer John Elferink has banned departmental staffers from supporting their minister during Estimates hearings. Will this shed more light on government processes or draw a veil across democracy in the NT?
Kon Vatskalis on NT Chief Minister Terry Mills and the lost weekend
Terry Mills has travelled to Japan to find some gas for the NT and promote the NT economy. Will he still have a job when he gets back?
Nick Cave’s ornithorium
"All I had to do was walk on stage and open my mouth and let the curse of God roar through me. Floods, fire and frogs leapt out of my throat. Though I had no notion of that then, God was talking not just to me but through me, and his breath stank." Nick Cave, King Ink II.
Dear Chief Minister … I’m “embarrassed and ashamed” to be a member of the CLP
The lack of communication and compassion by this Government is bordering on outright contempt for the people of the Northern Territory and I hate to say it but I am embarrassed even ashamed to say I am a Member of this Party. Unfortunately after campaigning on lowering the cost of living the Party has forfeited its right to balance the budget as a matter of priority and should realise it is not in a position to balance the budget over people’s livelihoods.
Pointing the finger – Who are the dopers, who are the organised criminals?
The problem for the Australia Government now is that it appears that the public version of the Crime Commission report is just the tip of the iceberg. The Government and ASADA are in damage control and the countries top football leagues (Australian football’s AFL and Rugby League’s NRL) are in crisis.
The Politics of Gas in the NT – Syd Stirling on Gove, Pacific Aluminium and the CLP
Previous CLP Governments under Marshall Perron and Shane Stone, including the still involved Barry Coulter would not have hesitated to support Pacific Aluminium. The current Chief Minister's risk adverse dithering stands in stark contrast to the "we can and will do it" attitude of his precedessors.