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24 February 2000
Northern Territory News headlines
'Burke says sorry to chief justice'
'Corrupt claims throw judiciary into crisis'
The Chief Justice of the NT threatened to disqualify himself from a case following the Chief Minister and Attorney-General's description of the judiciary as corrupt. He suggested that any decision he made could be challenged on the basis of his 'corruption'. While apologising for the remark, the Chief Minister didn’t exactly retract the essence of his comments in that the judiciary was not performing. However, the most amazing (and saddest) part of the whole situation is that the NT Opposition has not made been able to capitalise on the monumental gaffe. Is this a function of media bias or political ineptitude?
'Tourist washed away'
Well not quite. A southern visitor to the Territory was forced to swim to safety after trying to cross the bridge over the Georgina River in a 4-wheel drive when warning signs indicated the water was more than 1m above the road and the water was running extremely fast. His 4-wheel drive is now stranded in the river. Oh dear. Maybe he was desperate to escape the politics of the NT. But that can't be right - because he landed in Queensland.
A definition of optimism
'Greens 'certain' of Port Darwin seat'
Another candidate in the Port Darwin by-election. This time it is the Greens candidate Andy Gough who is reported as saying he was 100 per cent certain of winning the by-election on March 11. He referred to the CLP being made up of a bunch of cowboys who did not listen to peoples concerns. He raised issues of mandatory sentencing, freedom of information (yes there is none), the lack of an Aboriginal interpreter service, crime prevention, and the creation of a building allocated to itinerants. You wouldn’t want him to be half certain would you.
'How to win votes and influence people'
'Drunks: owners must share blame'
'Some responsibility for anti-social behaviour outside Stuart Park shops needed to be taken on by shop owners, Opposition Leader Clare Martin said yesterday' reports the paper. It seems that the only issue to do with owners was that liquor outlets shouldn’t serve drunks. Fair enough. But I don’t believe it would have been the liquor outlet owners who would have been the loudest complainants about the behaviour, particularly as they benefit greatly from the excesses. I'm not sure that if I was the newsagent I would have been particularly impressed by the comment. But the CLP candidate was and agreed wholeheartedly with the comments. The ALP suggested that they would fund night patrols seven days a week and move St Vincent De Paul. And the CLP candidate agreed. Apart from the complete political naivety, is there a pattern emerging here?
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