Latest news with #NorthernTerritory-based
ABC News
25-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
NT government expands role of G4S private security guards to support overcrowded watch houses
In an expansion of private prison staff responsibilities in the Northern Territory, Department of Corrections employees have heard the duties performed by private security firm G4S will be increased. In March, the NT government signed a six-month contract with G4S to manage the transfer of Darwin prisoners. G4S security guards currently help to transfer inmates between prisons and the courts, as territory correctional staff face record prisoner numbers. Despite a recruitment drive for 202 new corrections officers to be employed inside prisons this financial year, NT Corrections Minister Gerard Maley has previously acknowledged the prison population is growing and that the government needs to expand the workforce. In an internal memo seen by the ABC, corrections staff were told Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley had signed a work order to expand the duties carried out by private security guards. "As we shape this next phase, we are working closely with G4S to determine what a Northern Territory-based G4S staffing model could look like." The United Workers Union (UWU), which represents corrections officers, has been strongly opposed to the NT's six-month arrangement with G4S since it began in March. UWU NT branch secretary Erina Early said although G4S guards had been assisting with prison transfers since that time, corrections staff had not seen any improvement to their working conditions. "It hasn't made much change to our correctional officers at all because the [prisoner] numbers are increasing," she said. "Bringing in G4S may relieve a couple of shifts, but it's not having the outcome that the government [is] hoping for." Ms Early said union members were worried for "the safety of the prisoners and also safety of the police" — who have a different skillset to correctional officers — and held concerns the expansion of G4S's services signalled growing privatisation in the NT's corrections system. "They've been saying this since it was announced by Commissioner Matthew Varley, that G4S were coming in — as soon as you have them in, it's like a cancer, they will spread," she said. "They have been taking more and more roles." Corrections Minister Gerard Maley last month told the ABC that privatising the entire NT prison system was not on the government's radar. "There are private firms that run prisons in their entirety, that's not our plan at all," he said. "Our plan is to make sure that we have highly trained officers behind the wire, and then independent contractors such as G4S doing the services outside that." The NT's corrections department has been housing a growing number of prisoners in police watch houses in recent months, due to capacity constraints at territory prisons. Earlier this week, there were about 100 people being held inside the Palmerston police watch house, including overflow corrections prisoners. G4S is part of American private security giant Allied Universal, which employs more than 800,000 people internationally and generates about $20 billion in annual revenue. The company describes itself as a "global leader in security". Security guards employed by G4S in Australia mainly work in prisons and detention centres. The firm has operated Victoria's largest maximum security prison, Port Phillip Prison, since it opened in 1997. A 2018 report by the Victorian auditor-general's office found "serious incidents" at Port Phillip Prison, including assaults and drug use, and "exposed weaknesses in how G4S … manage safety and security risks". A Victorian coroner recently recommended G4S improve staff training following the "preventable" 2022 death of an Aboriginal man in his prison cell. Port Phillip Prison is due to close by the end of this year. Last year, G4S reached a confidential settlement with the parents of an Iranian asylum seeker, who was fatally bashed by guards at a Manus Island offshore detention centre in 2014. The company was also fined over its role in the death of an Aboriginal elder, who overheated in the back of a prison van in remote Western Australia in 2008. It is not yet clear how much the NT government's contract with G4S has cost the public.
West Australian
21-07-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Judge's ire as 'glacial' cattle export lawsuit plods on
A lawsuit brought on behalf of Australian cattle farmers who exported to Indonesia over a decade ago has been criticised for moving at a "glacial pace". The class action was brought in October 2014 by farmers who allege they lost income after then-Labor senator Joe Ludwig banned live cattle exports to Indonesia in June 2011. The government had reacted to public outcry after an ABC Four Corners program showed graphic footage of cattle being inhumanely slaughtered. At a brief hearing on Monday, Federal Court Justice Tom Thawley criticised the lawsuit's slow pace. "It has taken an inordinate amount of time for these proceedings to be heard," he told lawyers representing both the class action and Mr Ludwig. "The parties have carried on at a glacial pace for years." In June 2020, Justice Steven Rares found Mr Ludwig committed misfeasance in public office by suspending the export of live cattle to Indonesia for six months from June 2011. An additional 88,000 head of live cattle would have been sent to Indonesia in 2011 if the minister had acted properly, the court found. In a June judgment, Justice Thawley limited the potential compensation farmers could receive over the then-senator's unlawful order. While farmers contended more cattle would have been exported in 2012 and 2013 had Mr Ludwig made an exceptions order instead of his six-month ban, the judge disagreed. This means farmers can only seek compensation for losses from 2011. On Monday, class action barrister Patrick Holmes said his clients were still considering whether to appeal the June decision. Any appeal has to be lodged by August 5. Justice Thawley scheduled another short hearing two days after that date. He warned the parties to work out a plan if there was no legal challenge. "If there is no appeal, the timetable had better be one which deals with this case expeditiously," he said. Only the lead applicant in the class action, the Northern Territory-based Brett Cattle Company, has received a payout of $3 million as a result of the lawsuit. Settlement talks are ongoing.
Perth Now
21-07-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Judge's ire as 'glacial' cattle export lawsuit plods on
A lawsuit brought on behalf of Australian cattle farmers who exported to Indonesia over a decade ago has been criticised for moving at a "glacial pace". The class action was brought in October 2014 by farmers who allege they lost income after then-Labor senator Joe Ludwig banned live cattle exports to Indonesia in June 2011. The government had reacted to public outcry after an ABC Four Corners program showed graphic footage of cattle being inhumanely slaughtered. At a brief hearing on Monday, Federal Court Justice Tom Thawley criticised the lawsuit's slow pace. "It has taken an inordinate amount of time for these proceedings to be heard," he told lawyers representing both the class action and Mr Ludwig. "The parties have carried on at a glacial pace for years." In June 2020, Justice Steven Rares found Mr Ludwig committed misfeasance in public office by suspending the export of live cattle to Indonesia for six months from June 2011. An additional 88,000 head of live cattle would have been sent to Indonesia in 2011 if the minister had acted properly, the court found. In a June judgment, Justice Thawley limited the potential compensation farmers could receive over the then-senator's unlawful order. While farmers contended more cattle would have been exported in 2012 and 2013 had Mr Ludwig made an exceptions order instead of his six-month ban, the judge disagreed. This means farmers can only seek compensation for losses from 2011. On Monday, class action barrister Patrick Holmes said his clients were still considering whether to appeal the June decision. Any appeal has to be lodged by August 5. Justice Thawley scheduled another short hearing two days after that date. He warned the parties to work out a plan if there was no legal challenge. "If there is no appeal, the timetable had better be one which deals with this case expeditiously," he said. Only the lead applicant in the class action, the Northern Territory-based Brett Cattle Company, has received a payout of $3 million as a result of the lawsuit. Settlement talks are ongoing.
West Australian
07-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Infinity sells Leonora copper asset to focus on core projects
Infinity Mining has executed a binding share sale agreement to transfer its interest in the Leonora Goldfields copper project in Western Australia as part of a tenement merger. The tenements will be transferred to ASX-listed WA and Northern Territory-based explorer Evergreen Lithium via private company U Resource. Under the deal, Infinity will become a substantial shareholder in Evergreen (EG1) and retain exposure to any upside from the Leonora Goldfields project. Management says the arrangement supports Infinity's longer-term strategy to liberate value from the company's non-core assets and sharpen its focus on advancing its core assets. Infinity owns a diverse portfolio of gold and copper projects in New South Wales, Victoria, WA's East Pilbara and the Central Goldfields. The company's immediate priority will be further exploration and development of its flagship Cangai copper project, about 50 kilometres northwest of Grafton in northeastern NSW. Infinity acquired Cangai, with its three exploration licences, last October. The project has a JORC (2012) compliant mineral resource estimate of 4.4 million tonnes inferred in-situ mineralisation at a grade of 2.5 per cent copper. The estimate includes an additional indicated resource of 0.2Mt at 1.35 per cent copper in historic stockpiles for about 114,000t of contained copper metal, with additional credits for zinc, gold and silver. Under the sale agreement, Evergreen will pay Infinity a $35,714 cash deposit within five days of execution. In turn, Infinity will be issued an upfront consideration of 8,928,571 Evergreen shares valued at $446,439 at a deemed price of $0.05 per share on completion of the transaction. Infinity will also be issued deferred Evergreen shares valued at $267,857, subject to shareholder approval, based on a 14-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP) measured between April 11 and April 30, with a floor of $0.035 and a cap of $0.065 per share. Additionally, Infinity will receive a milestone consideration of $89,286 in Evergreen shares, based on a 14-day VWAP, which will be issued if Evergreen announces a JORC-compliant inferred resource greater than 100,000 ounces of gold within three years. The upfront and deferred considerations will be escrowed for 12 months from the date of issue of the upfront consideration. Infinity says the deal provides the additional funding it requires to advance its core projects. The deal opens the door for immediate value realisation and potentially to long-term growth, as the Leonora project is advanced by Evergreen's strong leadership team. Evergreen is chaired by Simon Lill, who played a key role in Northern Star's $5 billion acquisition of De Grey Mining. He is accompanied at Evergreen by newly-appointed non-executive director Steven Morris, who brings extensive gold mining expertise that includes previous roles at De Grey Mining and Auric Mining. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
