NT Independent

‘Find a mate with a ute’: Darwin’s pre-cyclone clean-up cancelled this year

Darwin Council has scrapped its annual pre-cyclone clean-up collection service this year which it says is due to “significant operational impacts of Cyclone Fina” that hit the city last November, with Mayor Peter Styles telling residents to rent trailers or call a “mate with a ute” to take their own hard waste to the tip this year.

Department ‘filtering’ EPA media questions adding to murky Claravale referral issue

Claravale Station owners were allegedly told by Environment Department staff that the NT Environment Protection Agency did not want to see land clearing applications for assessment and were advised to avoid triggering a referral to the supposedly independent watchdog, according to documents obtained under freedom of information laws, but the department has denied its staff provided that advice and said they instead gave instructions about how to adhere to the legislation.

Territory households urged to complete Census

All households in the NT are being urged to complete and submit their census forms in advance of Census night on Tuesday, August 11, the Australian Bureau of Statistics says, with daily fines of $364 issued for repeated noncompliance.

Two boys charged over alleged Katherine stolen car joyride

Two boys, aged 13 and 15, have been charged for their alleged involvement in a reckless driving spree involving a group of up to seven youths in a stolen car in Katherine on Thursday night, NT Police said.

Here’s why we need independent oversight of the NT Police’s Administrator assault investigation

EDITORIAL: We heard the Chief Minister and the Police Commissioner loud and clear when they said any assertion the police would be politically motivated while investigating the Gosling-Connolly spectacle was “insulting”. Our response is, frankly, we don’t care how you want to take it or if it hurts your feelings, history has shown us you need to bring in independent oversight of this wacky investigation in the best interests of the Northern Territory.

Man arrested after alleged sexual assault in Palmerston

A 35-year-old man has been arrested over the alleged sexual assault of a woman in Palmerston overnight after he was tracked through the CBD using CCTV, NT Police said.

What three million online posts reveal about anti‑First Nations hate in Australia

New research analysing more than three million online posts has revealed how anti-First Nations hate grows around political debates and public controversies, with racist stereotypes portraying Indigenous people as criminals, welfare or alcohol dependent, “not black enough”, or undeserving recipients of government support, write Matteo Vergani and Fiona Allison.

Manslaughter charge laid two years after fatal crash in ‘complex investigation’

A 49-year-old Alice Springs man has been charged with manslaughter for his alleged role in a fatal road incident that saw a male pedestrian killed by a vehicle in Darwin in February 2024, but the man charged was not driving the vehicle, NT Police said.

Opinion: The decline of a childhood rite of passage, and the push to get kids riding again

As fewer Australian children learn to ride a bike, AusBike is taking a new approach to teaching the skill by using games and confidence-building rather than training wheels, to help increase childhood independence and freedom, writes Tom Allen.

Fifth person confirmed dead after Stuart Highway crash

Five people are now confirmed to have died following a two-vehicle head-on collision on the Stuart Highway on Wednesday, with NT Police calling for witnesses to the crash after alleging a speeding ute had been overtaking dangerously in the minutes before the collision.