Latest news with #CharlesDarwinUniversity
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Plans to build prison work camp at farming college
A crime-troubled territory in dire need of more beds in jails is negotiating with a university to turn part of an agricultural college into a prison farm work camp. The Northern Territory government is in talks with Charles Darwin University to turn land at its rural college, 18km northwest of Katherine, into a prison farm for 100 low- to open-security inmates to be operating by the end of 2025. The prison farm plans come amid record spending of $1.5 billion for law and order announced in the NT budget on May 13, with a third of that for corrective services. The Country Liberal Party government in May rushed through tough new bail laws that will ramp up the demand for prison beds. Corrections Minister Gerard Maley has confirmed negotiations were ongoing with the university, with the proposed work camp being a key part of the government's "sentenced to skill" program for low security inmates. The university's Katherine rural campus spans more than 4400 hectares of working cattle and farming operations, the university's website says. Infrastructure funding was ready to get the proposed facility up and running and it would alleviate pressures on the system, Mr Maley told the NT News. University vice-chancellor Scott Bowman confirmed preliminary talks were underway with the NT corrections department about a parcel of land on the rural campus being made available for the building of a correctional facility. "Charles Darwin University is proud of the work we currently undertake with the Department of Corrections, delivering training in all Northern Territory correctional facilities," he said in a statement to AAP. "Our work so far has demonstrated that skills and education are key in rehabilitation." Acting Corrections Commissioner Alecia Brimson has acknowledged the strain put on the NT prison system by staff retention issues, with 40 per cent of the 157 correctional officers recruited in July quitting in less than 12 months. Data shows the NT has an incarceration rate three times greater than anywhere else in Australia and has the highest reoffending rate, with six out of 10 prisoners returning to jail within two years of release. A justice reform group says the NT government should stop investing in new prisons in response to overcrowding and instead look at proven community-led programs to address the root causes of crime to make communities safer. Justice Reform Initiative's NT co-ordinator and Noongar woman Rocket Bretherton said overcrowded and understaffed jails led to long lockdowns and pressure-cooker situations that endangered people in prison. "How is that rehabilitating people? How is that making the community safer, how is that setting people up to better their lives when they come out of prison? "If jailing people worked then the Northern Territory would be the safest place in the world, with the amount of people we have in jails. So obviously jailing is failing," she told AAP.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Locals fume as 22-year-old roundabout garden destroyed by council: 'A complete stuff-up'
Flowers planted and lovingly tended to for over two decades by a local resident have been destroyed by workers contracted by the local council, with a whipper snipper turning the once blossoming roundabout into a pile of dirt. Geoff Miers, 75, was devastated to learn the hundreds of Sturt's desert peas were ripped out from the roundabout on the intersection of Undoolya Road and Lindsay Avenue in Alice Springs last Monday — one day after spending more than four hours tending to them with his wife Kaye. "I was stunned. I couldn't believe it, especially as we had been tending to the roundabout the day before," he told Yahoo News. "I've been looking after the roundabout for over 22 years when I first planted it out with a group of horticultural students from Charles Darwin University." Geoff, who is a horticulturalist himself, explained he wants to do his bit to "keep Alice looking good" and this was the reason behind his committed effort to the roundabout, which had long been renowned in the town. Yahoo News understand the contractors had mistaken the native flowers, not yet in bloom, for weeds and ripped them up. "Simply it boils down to a lack of adequate training and a lack of direct and clear supervision," Geoff said. "The roundabout garden was designed to be self-sustaining with weeding and the occasional watering to keep it looking wonderful." Resident's kerbside garden under threat after anonymous council complaint 🤔 Retiree facing $7600 council fine over 'meticulously looked after' plants 🌱 Council defends 'disgraceful' road move after residents erupt The council has been slammed after word spread around town of the incident. The editor of local news outlet Alice Springs News published a scathing letter penned by a resident calling for an investigation. "The Town Council needs a rigorous, independent review to restore democratic representation, transparency and sanity," it reads. "The council's wanton destruction of the iconic Undoolya Road and Lindsay Avenue roundabout planted with Sturt Desert Peas is final proof, if more was needed, that it lacks all three." Joshua Burgoyne, a local member of the legislative assembly, also questioned the council's actions online saying, "We need to be encouraging locals to care for their spaces. Not destroying them by taking the whipper snipper to them." Geoff had recently propagated the Sturt's desert peas and planted them on a second roundabout outside Joshua's office. "I want to thank him for his ongoing work ensuring Alice Springs looks it's best," Joshua said. Yahoo News reached out to the Alice Springs Town Council, however, it declined to comment. It is understood the council offered Geoff compensation, however Geoff told Yahoo News he wasn't interested in compensation and he doesn't know how much the council were willing to offer. "[I] didn't want to know about it so we never got that far [with a dollar amount]," he told Yahoo News. "They are full of apologies and realise it was a complete stuff-up. It will be discussed at the next full council meeting next Tuesday, 27th May." Geoff is adamant he will replant the flowers once the water supply is restored on the roundabout — something that was removed several years ago without explanation by council. "It will come back again when I get some water put on, even if I have to treat and direct seed the roundabout," he said. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
ABC News
15-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Alice Springs roundabout's desert blooms razed to dirt and weeds
An Alice Springs roundabout renowned for its beautiful desert blooms has been destroyed by workers contracted by the local council. Alice Springs horticulturalist Geoff Miers and his wife, Kay, have dedicated more than two decades to the small patch of dirt at the Undoolya Road and Lindsay Avenue intersection. "Kay and I had spent four hours on the weekend and we completely weeded half of that roundabout," Mr Miers said. "There were probably 300 to 500 desert peas in half of [the area and were] up to 10 plus centimetres high." He said maintaining the roundabout was just one of the things he did to try to improve the appearance of the town. Mr Miers said his horticulture students had planted the roundabout 22 years ago. "About a dozen students of mine from Charles Darwin University and I cleaned it out," he said. "We put in the soil, we put in the the right material on top of the sands and screened laterite. "We put in some irrigation and planted it." Mr Miers said Alice Springs Town Council work teams had whipper-snipped the desert peas, leaving the site barren. Mr Miers said he was too angry to find out the reason behind the slashing. "It's compounded by the fact that for two years unbeknownst to me or to anybody, they removed the water meter from that roundabout," he said. "I have repeatedly asked the head of the works department at the depot. "I've asked the CEO on two occasions to please put the water meter back on." Mr Miers said it was essential to water the area six times a year to keep it in top condition. "That roundabout — when it's in flower it gets national and international coverage," he said. Mr Miers said he had a verbal agreement after a similar incident about 15 years ago. "At that stage I spoke to whoever I had to speak to," he said. "I said, 'Stay away from that roundabout. Do not touch it. I will be responsible for it'," he said. Alice Springs Town Council has declined to comment. Independent member for Araluen, Robyn Lambley, said the council and Territory government needed to "do better". "It's unbelievable," she said. "There is no leadership and the Alice Springs Town Council is rudderless. "They are selling off parks and mowing up gardens." Member for Braitling Josh Burgoyne, who is also the Minister for Lands, Planning and the Environment, said it was disappointing to hear about the incident. He said Mr Miers had been helping him cultivate desert peas on the roundabout in front of his office in town. "I have greatly appreciated his expertise in trying to emulate his wonderful community work that brings colour and life to our red centre," he said.
ABC News
06-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
NT prison work camp proposed for rural university research station near Katherine
The Northern Territory government is in negotiations with Charles Darwin University (CDU) to open a prison work camp at a research farm north of the town of Katherine. Corrections Minister Gerard Maley said if the negotiations are successful, the work camp could be open at the rural university location later this year. Mr Maley said the plan was for the facility to be used for rehabilitation programs. Gerard Maley says there's funding in the upcoming NT budget dedicated to getting the work camp up and running. ( ABC News: James Elton ) "Some of those boot camp and work camp prisoners will be able to go … learn some everyday skills that territorians have to make a better life," he said. The work camp was promised by the Country Liberal Party (CLP) prior to the 2024 NT election, but no location had been publicly identified until today. Photo shows Three men address the media. The NT government has revealed plans to permanently transfer children from Alice Springs youth detention to Darwin as part of an "emergency response" aimed at rolling out a thousand new prison beds over the next four years. Mr Maley said the government "had a proposal with CDU now about what that will look like". "To be able to house low and open restricted prisoners there, and offer that Sentenced to a Skill program, using the CDU research farm as a facility to offer that program," he said. When asked if Katherine residents had been consulted over the plan, Mr Maley said the plan "is going to be publicised, it has been out there in the community". The minister said there was money in the upcoming NT budget to "get that up and running". CDU Vice-Chancellor and President Scott Bowman said the university was "proud of the work we currently do with the Department of Corrections, delivering education and training in all Northern Territory facilities". "We have been approached about this possibility," he said. Record budget for prison operations The government also flagged a record $495 million spend on the NT's overloaded corrections system in its May 13 budget, most of which would be used for operational purposes. The territory continues to see record numbers of people being incarcerated, with Alecia Brimson says the attrition rate in the NT's corrections industry was still high. ( ABC News: Jayden O'Neill ) Acting Corrections Commissioner Alecia Brimson said the prison population was currently at 2,822. "There's no question that that number places strain on the organisation, right across all of our centres," she said. Mr Maley said the proposed new work camp would alleviate the strain "because we'd be able to spread the prison population not only in Holtze [prison] in Darwin and in Alice Springs, but into Katherine". In the past 12 months, the Northern Territory has recruited 157 correctional officers, however 59 have left. ( ABC News: Grace Atta ) Despite the workforce strain, Ms Brimson said they believed an ongoing recruitment push would allow them to properly staff the new work camp. However, she also said the attrition rate in the sector was huge: in the past 12 months, 157 correctional officers have been recruited but 59 have left — 30 of whom were from Alice Springs. Photo shows Group Around 50 prison officers have marched to parliament to protest against the NT government's plan to hire private contractors within its corrections system. United Workers Union NT secretary Erina Early said in a statement that a Katherine work camp would be welcomed by officers but that many "are in doubt how the work camp will be staffed". "Officers are being kept on the dark about their future employment and direction of corrections," she said. "Officers continue to put their lives at risk and are expected to work unsafe hours with significantly overcrowded facilities all for a Department who does not value them or respect [what] they are exposed to every day."
The Guardian
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
June Opitz obituary
My aunt June Opitz, who has died aged 100, spent 50 years in the Northern Territory outback of Australia, first setting up a store and motel that became part of the Kakadu national park, and then at Charles Darwin University, where she finished a PhD aged 84 before returning to her native UK. It was in 1958 that June became a 'ten pound Pom', sailing from Tilbury Docks. She worked her way across the country before taking a job at the remote Nourlangie safari camp, 300 miles east of Darwin. There, June met Tom Opitz, a crocodile hunter who called her Judy, a name she adopted throughout her time in Australia. They married in 1963, then set up the Cooinda Trading Post and Motel. In 1980 they returned the site to the traditional owners, and it was eventually absorbed into the newly proclaimed Kakadu national park, now a world heritage site. June was born in London, the fourth of six children of Irene (nee Molesworth) and Charles Rowley, an army captain, and initially lived in Tonbridge Wells, Kent. A brother, Charles, died when he was two. In 1935, her father died, and the family moved to London, where June attended Glendower school in South Kensington. When she was 16 years old, her mother married Frank Ash, an ex-army captain and friend of June's father. With the onset of the second world war, Glendower was closed and June was sent to stay with friends in Winchester. There, her studies suffered, and she left school without qualifications. After studying shorthand and typing at a commercial college, June joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) aged 18. She was posted to RAF Bourn in Cambridgeshire with 105 Squadron, where she transported the Mosquito aircrew to and from the dispersal points for flights as well as driving ambulances to crash sites. Demobbed in 1946, June auditioned for a production of the musical Annie Get Your Gun, and was taken on as a chorus girl. However she got to play Annie on its opening night at the Empire, Liverpool, when the show's star, Barbara Shotter, and her understudy both fell ill. More acting and other jobs followed, but June yearned to see more of the world. In 1957 she set off overland by bus for India, with a view to getting a boat to Australia. She made it through Europe, Turkey and Persia but became ill with hepatitis so returned to England, sailing to Australia the following year. Tom died in 1982, and she did a series of access courses that led to a degree in archaeology and anthropology at the Northern Territory University (now Charles Darwin University), followed by her doctorate. She published her autobiography, An English Rose in Kakadu, in 2009. In 2012 June returned to the UK to live in Cambridge with her sister, before moving into a retirement home in Cambourne, near RAF Bourn. She remained an honorary fellow at Charles Darwin University. A letter from the university to mark her 100th birthday noted her contribution to widening understanding of the Kakadu national park. She is survived by seven nephews and nieces.
