Issue 31

Full marks for law and order, but the tourism promotion focus needs to be shifted from the Rock to the Alice, and lots more work is needed on cranking up the economy. That's the view of Daniel Davis, vice-president of the CLP. ERWIN CHLANDA reports in our Two Years of CLP Government feature. PHOTO: Police officers checking people entering the Todd Tavern bottle shop.

Jimmy Cocking, CEO of the Arid Lands Environment Centre, says Alice Springs should start a string of eco-style small enterprises to give the local economy a shot in the arm, and residents should generate their own electricity as a buffer against inevitable price rises. ERWIN CHLANDA reports in our Two Years of CLP Government feature. Mr Cocking is pictured with environmentalist and science journalist Tanya Ha.

Cops at bottle shops have contributed dramatically to a reduction of alcohol consumption, according to new data collected by the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress CEO Donna Ah Chee (pictured). But, she says, the Banned Drinkers Register (BDR) should be brought back. ERWIN CHLANDA reports in our Two Years of CLP Government feature.

The Giles Government must be given credit for the work done in promoting the Territory to potential investors as part of the Northern Australia Development Plan, says Neil McLeod, vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce. ERWIN CHLANDA reports in our Two Years of CLP Government feature.

Speculation that its second Leader in as many years may get the chop will mark the CLP Government's birthday tomorrow. As uproar over remarks seen as homophobic forced the Treasurer to resign and the party is in turmoil, we publish today the views of community leaders about how Alice Springs has fared since the August 25, 2012 election (scroll down to separate reports). And ERWIN CHLANDA comments on his reporting on a government that promised transparency but is too often palming off enquiries to minders, and is led by a Chief Minister increasingly thin-skinned and short tempered.

Dave Tollner has resigned as Deputy Chief Minister and from the Cabinet. This comes in wake of homophobic comments he made to a staffer. Chief Minister Adam Giles, under intense pressure inside the parliament and out since the comments were revealed on Thursday, has accepted his resignation.

"She is not moving. She is fighting mad." She is Felicity Hayes (second from right), and the place she's not moving from is Whitegate where her extended family has lived for generations although by white law it is still no more than a squat. ERWIN CHLANDA reports. Photo: Rod Moss.

A show at Raft Artspace takes us on a depth journey into landscape painting in the hands of a fine artist, Jennifer Taylor. Her enquiry over three years, conducted in Eastern Arrernte country around the present-day Ross River Resort, led her to think about the possibility of painting landscapes as portraits. Could a landscape painting be “as searching and intimate, as full of life and empathy as a good portrait”? KIERAN FINNANE  reports.

Chief Minister Adam Giles (pictured) yesterday evaded a question from Namatjira MLA Alison Anderson about a proposed site for a nuclear dump near Alice Springs. ERWIN CHLANDA reports.

The myth that the provision of affordable land will in some way have a negative effect on those who own existing property is much to the detriment of our community, its economy and the future of its children. Ask yourself this: What would your house be worth if Alice Springs turned into a ghost town, a FIFO mining camp, or a mere welfare institution?

Two directors of Lhere Artepe (LA) say they were tricked into signing a letter by the native title organisation's chairman, Noel Kruger. LA is denying the allegation. Benedict Stevens (left) and Matthew Palmer (right) signed the letter to Chief Minister Adam Giles, with copies to Senator Nigel Scullion and MHR Warren Snowdon, as directors of LA. ERWIN CHLANDA reports.

LETTER TO EDITOR

The Mental Health Services in Rural and Remote Areas program is set to continue in the Western Desert region of Central Australia following mutual agreement on funding arrangements between the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the Australian Government Department of Health and the Northern Territory Medicare Local.