Opposition Leader Announces Refresh of Shadow Ministry to Focus on What Matters to Territorians

Thursday, 27 November 2025 The Labor Opposition is calling on the CLP Government to release full details of its Banned Drinkers Register Review and provide a clear timeline for action on the Taskforce’s recommendations. A motion moved in Parliament today highlights that the Review undertaken by the CLP’s own Alcohol Policy Taskforce made up of NT Health, Licensing NT, the Department of the Attorney-General and Justice and NT Police has recommended a number of significant changes, including: Enforceable undertakings requiring on-premises ID scanning for licensees who repeatedly breach liquor licence conditions. An opt-in ID-scanning system for clubs choosing to participate.  Broader data-sharing arrangements between agencies and increased training for authorised personnel. The CLP went to the 2024 election promising this review. More than a year on, Territorians have no idea if the Government intends to implement its own recommendations. The motion calls on the Minister for Alcohol Policy to table a Ministerial Report by 12 March 2026, outlining: Progress on implementing all recommendations arising from the Review; and A timeline for any legislation needed to give effect to the Taskforce’s work. Territorians deserve transparency. If the CLP is serious about tackling alcohol-fuelled harm, it must show how and when it plans to act on the findings of its own review.

Thursday, 27 November 2025 Territorians deserve to feel safe in their homes, on our buses and in every part of our community. This rushed Bill runs the risk of making the community less safe and creating a second, cheaper class of Constable, who will be denied the same training, support, pay and conditions as other police officers. The CLP is pushing barely trained officers into volatile situations with guns and tasers. This model is not safe enough for our community, and it is not responsible enough to support. Frontline workers and Territorians carry the greatest risk when governments chase headlines. Key concerns include: • Training that is dangerously short, officers will be armed with guns after only 18 weeks. • No clarity on pay and conditions, raising real concerns about how these officers will be supported. • High-risk powers in inexperienced hands, officers will face volatile incidents without constable-level training. • Greater risk in mental health emergencies, people in crisis will encounter armed officers instead of clinicians. • Serious gaps in body-worn camera protections, sensitive footage could be shared without firm safeguards. • Weakened vetting standards, people previously ruled out could now be recruited. • No transparency on cost, Territorians still do not know what this will cost or how it will be funded. • A rushed and chaotic rollout, stakeholders were sidelined, and critical safety details are unresolved. Territorians deserve evidence-based solutions that tackle the causes of crime. Mental health co-responders, domestic violence teams, stable housing and strong alcohol policy make communities safer. These programs prevent violence before it happens and reduce pressure on police. They deliver real safety and real stability where it matters.  The CLP has ignored these solutions and chosen the fastest headline instead of the safest plan. This Bill is unsafe, unprepared and the under resourced for the Territory.

Wednesday, 26 November 2025 The Chief Minister owes Territorians an explanation for relief payments that sound good on paper but help almost no one. The one-off Immediate Hardship Grant payments offering $309 per child, $611 per adult and $1537 per family are meant to help people across the Top End impacted by Cyclone Fina with the cost of basic needs including food, transport, medical supplies and clothing. However, the criteria for Immediate Hardship Grant payments are only available to people who were evacuated during the cyclone, which rules out nearly every single person impacted by Fina. People who went to an emergency cyclone shelter are also ineligible. These relief payments have been purposely designed to knock out a majority of Territorians in their biggest time of need. A small number of affected households who have had their power out for 72 hours or more will be able to access a $250 payment, the same amount as was made available following Cyclone Marcus 7 years ago, despite rising cost of living expenses. While the Commonwealth provides funding support towards these relief payments it is the NT Government that determines what assistance measures will be activated, and the areas in which they will be made available. It is beyond belief that the CLP Government made clear decisions around not evacuating people from places like Minjilang and the Tiwi Islands, which were smashed by the cyclone, and then turns around and says only people who were evacuated are eligible for a relief payment. Not a single Territorian was evacuated prior to or during Cyclone Fina as directed by the CLP Government. Member for Arafura, Manuel Brown has been receiving endless calls and emails from constituents on the Tiwi Islands who are confused, distressed and upset about the Government’s lack of care for them in the wake of the cyclone. Darwin residents are feeling the same. NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services, Power and Water and other agencies have done an outstanding job of supporting communities.  It’s a shame the CLP Government have abandoned the very Territorians they are elected to represent.

Tuesday, 25 November 2025 The CLP’s Integrity and Ethics Commissioner Bill is a step backwards for transparency and accountability in the Northern Territory. The Bill collapses four independent oversight bodies the ICAC, Ombudsman, Information Commissioner and Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner into a single office. The NT Opposition has the following concerns about the proposed new body in Parliament today: A single Commissioner would control investigations, complaints and integrity functions across all four agencies, creating major and unavoidable conflict-of-interest risks. The Government has provided no explanation for how one Commissioner can credibly manage the workload and complexity of four agencies. Each existing integrity body has been found to be under-resourced and under-funded, yet no additional resources are being provided for this new mega-agency. The Chief Minister claims the mega-agency is not a cost-cutting exercise, yet her own review identifies ‘economies of scale’ as the primary benefit, with no detail on budget or costings. The Government refused to send the Bill to its own Scrutiny Committee, providing no opportunity for the Bill to be fully considered by the community or stakeholders. It is not clear what influence or decision-making the new CEO position, to be filled by a public servant, will have over the Commission’s integrity operations. It is not clear whether staff of the Commission report to the Commissioner or the CEO. This is a significant change to the way public sector integrity and accountability is monitored and upheld. The fact that the Chief Minister refused to send this Bill to the Scrutiny Committee is beyond ironic. It is yet another example of this Government refusing to be upfront and honest with Territorians about changes that significantly impact them, and their real motives for making these changes. This Bill reduces oversight and opens up serious conflict of interest concerns at a time when Territorians expect stronger integrity protections, not weaker ones. The Government has failed to demonstrate how its model will maintain independence or improve accountability. Labor is calling for a mandatory 12-month report back to Parliament so Territorians can see the real impact of these changes. Oversight must be robust, independent and open to public scrutiny.  Any appointments to the Commissioner, CEO and Inspector roles must be open, transparent and merit based. Territorians deserve integrity positions filled on competence, not political convenience.

Monday, 24 November 2025 CLP LEAVES TERRITORIANS IN THE DARK The Territory Labor Opposition has called on the CLP to immediately reinstate the underground power program for the northern suburbs of Darwin. More than 19,500 households lost power during Cyclone Fina, with thousands of households expected to wait up to a week to have their power restored. As families are forced to throw out food and manage by torchlight, the Chief Minister continues to deflect questions about undergrounding power, demonstrating it’s simply not a priority for the CLP. A sincere thank you goes to the Power and Water crews who have been working tirelessly in difficult conditions to restore power for Territorians. Their efforts have been exceptional and are deeply appreciated as communities work through this recovery. Several of the suburbs facing the longest outages were due to receive underground power under Labor’s funded program. That work was fully designed, costed and ready to begin before the CLP cancelled it in their first Budget this year in May. Planning work and procurement were already underway for the first stages in Nakara, Wagaman, Larrakeyah and Alawa. These upgrades were designed to make the network stronger and reduce the kind of outages people are experiencing now. The CLP walked away from that work, leaving thousands more Territorians exposed during severe weather. Labor completed underground power upgrades to nine Darwin schools between 2019 and 2023 which demonstrated how critical and effective this work is. Those community hubs now have safer and more reliable power during cyclones and severe weather events. The Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro says Territorians are “built for this”, yet her government cancelled the very upgrades that would have protected the communities still sitting in the dark. Territorians should not be left vulnerable because the CLP abandoned critical upgrades. The CLP should remember that investing in Territorian’s safety should be the long term plan of any Government, not a headline grabbing stunt.

Friday, 7 November 2025 The Territory Labor Opposition welcomes the announcement of the NT Police Anti-Racism Action Plan as a constructive and necessary step towards a fairer and more accountable Police Force. Our Territory police do incredibly important and difficult work in our community, often in challenging circumstances. We congratulate them for their leadership in confronting a difficult issue and taking proactive steps towards meaningful cultural reform that will ultimately make our community safer. This strategy provides a strong pathway forward to build greater trust between police and the communities they serve. It will help strengthen relationships and allow both police and communities to move forward together. However, the burden of implementing this plan cannot and should not rest solely with the Police Force. It is incumbent on the Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro to show genuine leadership, to take responsibility, properly resource this work, and engage honestly with communities. To date, the CLP Government has largely washed its hands of the challenges police are facing and shied away from the hard conversations that real change requires. If the Chief Minister is real about supporting our Police, she must provide regular updates to Parliament on the progress of the Action Plan; this is not something she can simply set and forget and hope nobody notices. No more burying her head in the sand and waiting for the storm to blow over.  Real leadership means standing alongside police, not leaving them to carry the weight of reform alone and listening to the concerns from the community so that the Territory can move forward together.

SHADOW MINISTER FOR TOURISM AND HOSPITLAITY | DHERAN YOUNG MLA Wednesday, 5 November 2025 The CLP Government’s “High-Level Strategy Framework” for the tourism industry once again demonstrates their preference for style over substance. The Minister for Tourism and Hospitality has delivered a document with repackaged aspirations instead of real long-term actions. The tourism sector has delivered some clear messages to the Government about what they need, but the CLP has stopped listening and stopped investing. In just 14 months, the CLP Government has slammed the brakes on our visitor economy: They have cut funding to the combined tourism, events and screen sector by a whopping 23 per cent; The screen industry alone has suffered a $1.5 million cut under the CLP compared to the previous financial year; Despite the tourism industry highlighting the importance of cultural tourism, they have ripped funding out of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Gallery in Alice Springs — a project that would have attracted 53,000 visitors and injected $64 million into the economy each year; They have scrapped the Darwin State Square Art Gallery and left it as an empty shell; They have scaled back tourism investments, including scrapping upgrades to the Central Arnhem Road and Alice Springs tourism infrastructure; and They have failed to keep routes flying into Central Australia year-round. The CLP can rush out all the glossy “high-level strategy frameworks” they like — but their cuts to tourism tell a different story. Under the former Territory Labor Government, action and industry growth were driven by a comprehensive and well-considered tourism industry strategy, a cruise tourism strategy, an Aboriginal tourism strategy, a long-term business events strategy, a drive tourism strategy, an aviation strategy and the Territory Aviation Scheme — all designed to strengthen visitation, connectivity, and investment. Territory Labor backs the people who keep this industry running, with a record of delivering real projects, supporting operators and driving visitation across the Territory.  We acknowledge their contribution to the 2025 Visitor Economy Strategy and will continue to call for projects and investment that deliver them real results.

SHADOW MINISTER FOR HEALTH | DHERAN YOUNG MLA Tuesday, 4 November 2025 The Royal Darwin and Palmerston Hospitals have now called multiple Code Yellows, despite the Minister for Health Steve Edgington trumpeting just months ago that they were no longer required. For over 14 months the CLP Government has shown a blatant disregard for our Territory public health system, a system highly valued by every Territorian. While the Federal Labor Government stumped up a record 30% funding increase to help reduce emergency department wait times and cut surgical backlogs, the Territory health system remains in crisis. This is because the CLP Government has failed to take meaningful action to alleviate the burden on our hospitals. Territorians are forced to wait for hours to see a doctor. Essential regional health infrastructure investments have been cut, leaving residents with no choice but to travel to our major centres for care, putting further pressure on hospitals. Meanwhile our maternity services remain chronically understaffed and expectant mothers and babies are put at risk because they can’t be guaranteed continuity of care. Frontline health staff are exhausted and demoralised, with some resorting to industrial action due to inadequate EBA offers. The Territory Labor Opposition commends our Territory healthcare staff for the work they do under significant pressure every day and for their incredible dedication and resilience which is truly extraordinary. The CLP needs to stop deflecting and finger pointing and get on with their job, for the sake of Territorians and our health staff.

Thursday, 23 October 2025 The CLP has refused to send its own Integrity and Ethics Commissioner Bill to the Legislative Scrutiny Committee. And it’s hard to imagine anything more ironic or more hypocritical than a government refusing scrutiny on its own Integrity Bill. That’s not transparency. That’s not accountability. And Territorians deserve better. The Scrutiny Committee exists to do one simple thing make sure laws are tested in public, with expert input and community oversight. It’s how good governments build trust. Territory Labor Opposition supports reforms that strengthen integrity and rebuild confidence in the Territory’s institutions. But that confidence must be earned through daylight, not secrecy. This year, less than a quarter of all Bills introduced to Parliament have been sent to the Scrutiny Committee, just 11 out of 48. The CLP treats scrutiny as optional dodging accountability whenever it suits them. By blocking committee referral, the CLP has shut Territorians out of a conversation about the very laws designed to protect honesty and accountability in public life. The ICAC’s reputation has been damaged, and restoring trust means doing the work properly thoroughly and transparently. If the CLP were serious about integrity, they would welcome scrutiny not run from it. Media Contact: Isobella Meredith 0456 574 047 | isobella.meredith@nt.gov.au