HORROR: A two-year-old girl is raped in Tennant Creek, highlighting the town's and the wider NT's child protection and social problems. (Feb) Strict alcohol measures are imposed. The NT Children's Commissioner says the horrific attack was foreseeable, given the family's problems were well known. Former PM Malcolm Turnbull visits the town after pressure by local media. A man is later charged.
CYCLONE: Severe Tropical Cyclone Marcus hits the NT and Kimberley. (Mar). It was stronger than Cyclone Tracey, which levelled the town in 1974. Fortunately, unlike Tracey, there are no deaths. Darwin is shut off with school, events and flights cancelled and power cut off to 26,000 homes.
FRACKING GREEN LIGHT: The Labor government lifts its ban on fracking - or hydraulic fracturing - in which a rock is fractured by using a pressurised liquid to access natural gas. The government insists it did so only after a scientific inquiry found the risks could be reduced, but there are claims the federal government pressured them do so in order to receive $260 million extra in GST. (April)
DISGRACE: The Territory's former police commissioner John McRoberts becomes the second top cop in Australian history to be jailed. (June) He is guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice after he was found to have interfered with an investigation into his former lover, NT Crime Stoppers chairwoman Xana Kamitsis, who was jailed for committing fraud as a travel agent. He is sentenced to three years.
VISIT: Shinzo Abe becomes the first Japanese PM to visit Darwin since his country's military bombed the city. The attack 76 years ago, in which at least 243 people were killed, was the biggest assault on Australia. Mr Abe and Australian PM Scott Morrison lay wreaths at the Darwin cenotaph in what's seen as a highly symbolic moment. The two leaders announce closer military ties and strategic partnerships. (Nov)
Australian Associated Press
