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Tag: Northern Territory

  • Ronald Junior Ah-Wing imprisoned for one-punch attack on tourist outside Darwin hotel – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

    Ronald Junior Ah-Wing imprisoned for one-punch attack on tourist outside Darwin hotel – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

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    A Melbourne tourist will “never be the same” after what prosecutors described as a “flagrant, vicious attack” outside his Darwin City hotel, the Northern Territory Supreme Court has heard.

    A 50-year-old man and his partner had travelled to Darwin to celebrate his birthday in January 2023 when he became the victim of an unprovoked, one-punch assault which left him suffering three brain blood clots, two skull fractures and a broken nose.

    Crown prosecutor Marty Aust said almost a year after the attack, the victim continued to suffer from “ongoing, ever-present, unresolved” physical and mental issues, including a loss of taste, smell, balance, and chronic tinnitus.

    Ronald Junior Ah-Wing, 24, pleaded guilty in the Northern Territory Supreme Court to unlawfully causing serious harm.

    The court heard on Friday Ah-Wing and a friend had been driving in the Darwin CBD area around 10:30pm on January 26, 2023, when they drove past the victim and his partner, who were walking back to their hotel on the Darwin Esplanade from a city bar.

    The victim and his partner was staying at the Novotel on the Darwin Esplanade.(ABC News: Ian Redfearn)

    CCTV played to the court showed Ah-Wing and his friend pulling into the driveway…

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  • NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles defends crime response after two alleged daylight rapes in one week – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

    NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles defends crime response after two alleged daylight rapes in one week – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

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    A 56-year-old man has faced court in Darwin over the alleged broad daylight rape of a woman in a busy inner city laneway.

    The sexual assault allegedly happened in Austin Lane, which runs just behind the Top End city’s main pedestrian walkway Smith Street Mall, on Tuesday about 4pm.

    Northern Territory Police said the man was arrested a short time after the incident and charged with sexual intercourse without consent.

    He was remanded in custody following a court hearing on Thursday. 

    It was the second alleged daylight rape in inner-city Darwin in less than a week.

    A 24-year-old man was arrested and charged with sexual intercourse without consent after he allegedly assaulted a woman near the Darwin Bus Exchange at 2pm on September 28.

    The ABC can’t name the alleged perpetrators because the NT is the only jurisdiction in Australia where the names of alleged sexual offenders are suppressed until they are committed to stand trial.

    A woman was allegedly raped near the Darwin Bus Exchange in late September. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)

    NT Police Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst said officers responded “very quickly” to the two alleged sexual assaults.

    “The victims in these matters are both being cared for through the right counselling processes,”…

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  • NT Police say man is in serious but stable condition after Darwin CBD stabbing – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

    NT Police say man is in serious but stable condition after Darwin CBD stabbing – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

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    A man has been stabbed in Darwin’s CBD this morning, police say.

    NT Police said it responded to a stabbing on Smith Street after being alerted to the incident at about 4.50am.

    “Police and St John Ambulance arrived on scene confirming the man had suffered a puncture wound to the abdomen,” NT Police said.

    The man was taken to Royal Darwin Hospital and is in a serious but stable condition, police said.

    Police said investigations were ongoing.

    The incident follows two fatal stabbings in Darwin since March and comes against a backdrop of what police say is a growing number of knife-related incidents in the Top End.

    Darwin is experiencing an uptick in knife-related violence.(Supplied: Adobe Stock)

    In response, the NT government has toughened bail laws for people charged with weapons offences.

    The government also announced a review of police powers, and increased police patrols at areas known for crime and antisocial behaviour.

    The death of 19-year-old Declan Laverty, who died after being stabbed at a bottle shop where he was working, triggered the reviews into bail laws and police powers.

    It also precipitated an outpouring of anxiety, grief and anger across Greater Darwin. Marchers have turned out in the city to protest rising crime rates, the NT opposition has renewed and intensified calls for a tough-on-crime approach from the government, and residents,…

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  • Australia plays down US B-52 bomber plan that angers China

    Australia plays down US B-52 bomber plan that angers China

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    CANBERRA, Australia — The Australian defense minister on Wednesday played down the significance of a major upgrade of B-52 facilities planned for northern Australia that has raised China’s ire, saying the nuclear-capable U.S. bombers had been visiting since the 1980s.

    China this week condemned U.S. plans to deploy up to six of the long-range bombers at Royal Australian Air Force Base Tindal in the Northern Territory, arguing the move undermined regional peace and stability. China also warned of a potential arms race in the region.

    Asked if the upgrade could prove too provocative, Defense Minister Richard Marles told reporters, “I think everyone needs to take a deep breath here.”

    The multi-billion-dollar U.S. investment was part of the Enhanced Air Cooperation Program, which has built on a range of air exercises and training activities between the two countries since early 2017.

    “What we’re talking about is a U.S. investment in the infrastructure at Tindal, which will help make that infrastructure more capable for Australia as well,” Marles said.

    “In terms of U.S. bombers, they’ve been coming to Australia since the 1980s. They’ve been training in Australia since 2005. All of this is part of an initiative which was established in 2017,” he added.

    Australia would be a “significant beneficiary” of the Tindal upgrade, Marles said.

    Some Australian critics argue the B-52s’ increased presence in northern Australia, made possible by the new facilities, would make the country a bigger target in a war between the United States and China.

    Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst in defense strategy and capability at the Australian Security Policy Institute think tank, said China and other observers were “hyping” and “over-egging” the significance of what was proposed.

    “This is not significant in terms of the hardware side of things. It is significant in terms of the strategic importance of the fact that we are now able to more easily support the U.S. in its operations in the region,” Davis said.

    The U.S. Air Force would be able to operate B-52s for longer and with more ease from Tindal with an expanded parking apron, hangars and fuel storage tanks, Davis said.

    “It also means that in a crisis, Australia is then one of the few locations that the B-52s can more easily operate from to support U.S operational requirements,” he said.

    Tindal, like the U.S. Pacific military base at Guam, was within range of Chinese long-range missiles.

    But the greater distance the missiles would have to fly make Tindal an easier target to defend, Davis said.

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