For a government that this year has been vocal about protecting children, including lambasting all and sundry who dared to criticise its contentious child protection reforms, the Northern Territory's Country Liberal Party (CLP) remains strangely uninterested in the safety of young people in custody.
In a jurisdiction where nearly every child and young person behind bars is Aboriginal, and where there have been widespread accusations of human rights violations, abuse and safety issues, the Government decided it didn't need the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples to take a look inside the Holtze Youth Detention Centre.
It is a strange move when you consider the CLP were elected promising more accountability, not less.
"A government that is confident it is doing the right thing would open the door, not close it," said North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) CEO Ben Grimes. "This is embarrassing for the NT."
Others were equally scathing.
The "public would be disgusted to see the harms that their taxpayer dollars are contributing to," Senator Lidia Thorpe told this publication, whilst Indigenous Rights Advisor at Amnesty International Australia, Rodney Dillon, argued Australia can't claim to "uphold human rights while refusing to be held accountable for them".
The Northern Territory Government says it doesn't need to have the UN in its prisons because they are already "subject to established independent oversight and accountability arrangements".
This implies the existence of a democratic and open accountability mechanism for a government that has often acted with a glass jaw when faced with any semblance of criticism.
Instead, the NT has "Official Visitors" (in Department of Corrections terminology), who report to the Minister. They can't speak publicly, one person with intimate knowledge of the process told National Indigenous Times, and whilst four "Official Visitors" made seven visits to Holtze in the last financial year, none of their findings are publicly available.
Then there is the Office of the Child Commissioner, which can't visit youth prisons unless invited (or if undertaking an inquiry) and can't compel the production of documents.
That office is seemingly so respected by the NT Government that when former Commissioner Shahleena Musk stood down this year, arguing the Finocchiaro government had "sidelined" her over the child reform legislation, Child Protection Minister Robyn Cahill said Ms Musk was "not the only person entitled to be heard".
When Ms Musk released a report this year showing that one-in-three children in out-of-home care were allegedly harmed last financial year, Ms Cahill labelled the former barrister and Larrakia woman a "knee-jerk" bureaucrat who does "nothing".
Then there was the Youth Justice Advisory Committee (YJAC), which provided accountability under the Youth Justice Act.
But don't worry, it was repealed by the CLP in 2025, with Legal Aid noting the "inference is that advice on policy or law reform from this specialist body with stakeholder representation is not required".
Earlier this year, Ms Cahill went on the attack, arguing: "Here in the Territory, we have one goal, and that is to keep our children safe."
For a statement on its own, it's a no-brainer — no one will object to child safety being improved. But dig a bit deeper, and there is little substance to it.
In the NT, nine youths attempted self-harm in the first 12 months of the new youth detention centre being opened. That isn't keeping children safe.
Since the CLP came to power, the number of people behind bars has exploded, following the decision to lower the age of criminal responsibility to ten and strengthen bail laws.
Children are going without legal representation and languishing in overcrowded prisons, while amendments to the Youth Justice Act allow young people charged with an offence to be held in police watch houses — the same facilities as adults — for up to 48 hours. Many of these kids have disabilities, or are victims of sexual and physical abuse.
Ironically, many were previously removed from their homes and placed in out-of-home care — a dual failure of the state.
The Government has also brought back spit-hoods for children in detention — a practice described as torture and dangerous, and specifically opposed by the Don Dale Royal Commission.
One could ask how they are coping, but the only information available comes from lawyers and justice groups, who are publicly derided, as Ms Musk was.
For a government that promotes accountability and the importance of child safety, it has a very interesting way of showing it.
