The Northern Territory government has suspended the entire Barkly Regional Council and placed the council under official management. The Council Region covers more than 300-thousand square kilometres and takes in the town of Tennant Creek along with several other remote communities.
Category
đŸ“º
TVTranscript
00:00 It's not entirely clear why the anti-government has taken this step, but what we do know is
00:06 that the local government minister, Chansey Paik, earlier this morning announced at a
00:11 press conference that all elected members of the Barclay Council had been suspended
00:16 and that an administrator appointed to oversee the council in the interim.
00:23 An investigator has also been appointed to examine the council affairs and they're due
00:28 to return a report to the anti-government by March next year.
00:32 Now Mr Paik said he had reasons to believe there may be some deficiencies in the financial
00:37 management and service delivery of the council.
00:41 He also said that if allegations of corruption did emerge, he wouldn't hesitate to then pass
00:46 those on to the Northern Territory Corruption Watchdog for further investigation.
00:52 Now the anti-opposition leader, Leah Finocchiaro, has welcomed this decision.
00:57 She's urged the government to act quickly for the sake of the 8,000 people living in
01:02 the Barclay region who rely on the services of the council.
01:06 Here's some of what she had to say earlier this morning.
01:09 I would urge the government to make sure that this process is done as thoroughly and as
01:13 quickly as possible because there are 8,000 Territorians living in the Barclay who depend
01:19 on the services being delivered by that council and they deserve strong leadership in that
01:23 community and we hope that through this process that is what's going to be delivered.
01:28 So it's been a tumultuous few months for this council.
01:31 What's been going on?
01:34 Well Jo, the council has been in a state of turmoil for some time.
01:38 Last year the ABC revealed allegations of bullying and mismanagement within the council
01:43 with more than 40 staff members, four councillors and a CEO all resigning within the space of
01:49 12 months.
01:50 Now the now suspended Mayor Geoff McLaughlin is also facing some serious drug charges.
01:57 He was arrested twice in the space of five months and a video has also emerged of him
02:03 in recent weeks sitting on a young Indigenous child who he claims was trying to break into
02:09 his house.
02:10 Mr McLaughlin says he was performing a citizen's arrest and he was well within his right to
02:14 do so and has refused to resign.
02:18 Meanwhile a massive bushfire is also burning in the Barclay region and has been for the
02:23 past five weeks.
02:24 It's now burning in an area more than half the size of Tasmania.
02:29 So this is just another thing that is all adding to the concerns of the 8,000 community
02:33 members across the vast Barclay region, Jo.
02:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]